


One Little Change

by JasonMorganfan87



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode: s01e01 Pilot, Eventual Parent Gabriel, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Kid Fic, M/M, Mpreg, Parent Sam, Protective Gabriel, Protective Sam, Uncle Dean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2018-07-27 04:22:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 34,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7603225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasonMorganfan87/pseuds/JasonMorganfan87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam meets Gabriel much earlier than he should have and the two get together, leaving Sam with a little piece of him when he leaves.  How will this little change affect his story?  And How will Gabriel react when he meets Sam again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Everything happened so quick for Sam. He had been laying on his bed after Dean dropped him off. The next thing he knew, he was looking up at Jess pinned to the ceiling and soon after bursting into flames. Then Dean burst in, somehow knowing what had happened and started to pull him out. Sam tried to fight him for a minute, but then he remembered. They weren’t the only ones in the apartment. He could only blame the shock for even the two second delay of his brain.

Sam started pushing away from Dean the second they reached the hallway and called out, “Loki!”

“Dude, what are you doing?! We gotta go!” Dean yelled as he struggled to pull his brother out. He didn’t know who Loki was, but he assumed it was some type of pet, and yeah, it would suck for an animal to die like this, but right now the flames were spreading. They were gonna die if they didn’t get out soon.

Sam shoved his brother hard enough that he knocked him into a wall before rushing into the next room. 

Dean pulled himself up and started coughing as the smoke got worse. He was gonna go after his brother again when Sam came out carrying not an animal, but a small child in his arms. Dean was shocked to say the least, but he didn’t have time to deal with it, so he pushed it down. Then he removed his jacket and handed it to Sam to cover the boy.

Sam took the jacket and covered the now screaming little boy from them the fire and the three of them rushed out of the house to safety.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Dean stood next to his brother as the paramedics checked him and the boy, Loki, out. Dean had wanted to leave right away. It was always good to avoid being witnesses to anything in their line of work. But Sam insisted on boy being looked at in case of smoke inhalation. 

Dean stood there just watching his brother and his son. And he knew that boy was Sam’s. Sam hadn’t said it out loud yet, but that was the case. This wasn’t just some kid Jessica was watching or something. Dean knew that because aside from the golden eyes, he was the spitting image of Sam. 

Dean had a lot of questions about this, but right now, they didn’t matter. Right now, he just watched the two sadly, remembering a very similar seen. Him and his brother in their father’s arms after their mother was killed. It was so horribly similar. Another little boy had lost his mother. Sam lost the person he loved. 

Sam was in an almost trance-like state, staring at his apartment building. Jess was gone. His relationship with her wasn’t the way they let everyone think it was. He swung the other way and Jess knew it. They told everyone they were together because that way everyone would think Loki was hers. Hell, in a way he was hers. He called her ‘Mommy’ and she loved him, despite the fact that he wasn’t exactly normal. He and Loki wouldn’t have gotten through the last two and a half years without Jess.

“Your boy seems fine, but we should probably check him out. We can take you both in,” the medic said, pulling Sam out of his thoughts.

“No! Uh, I’ll drive him,” Sam lied. He let the medics look at Loki because he wanted to make sure his son was okay, but if they said he was fine, he wasn’t taking him to a hospital. Most people would call him irresponsible and even neglectful, but he had no idea what a doctor would discover about Loki should they run tests on him. He wouldn’t take that risk.

“If that’s what you want, but legally, I have to advise you to come with us,” he said.

“We’ll be fine,” Sam assured him. 

Once the medic left, Dean turned to his brother. “You ready.”

“Yeah,” Sam said before standing up. We gotta stop by a store. Loki’s car seat was inside the apartment because our car was in the shop. I’m also gonna need a few other things for him.”

“No hospital then?” Dean asked. 

“No. You heard the medic. He said he was fine. There’s no reason to go. It would just traumatize him more at this point. Let’s just get out of here,” Sam said, trying his best to be convincing. 

“Okay, let’s go,” Dean said, leading the way to the car. They got in and Dean drove off. Instead of blasting the music like he normally would, he left the radio off, knowing neither his brother or the toddler in his arms needed that right now. 

They were driving for about ten minutes before Dean couldn’t help but start asking about this newly discovered nephew. “So you have a kid.”

Sam sighed. “Please, Dean, I know you’re probably pissed that I didn’t tell you, but I can’t deal with it right now.”

Dean nodded. He could wait on that. His brother had gone through a big ordeal. He deserved some time to deal with that. But that didn’t mean Dean wouldn’t ask about the boy in general. “How old is he?”

“Two and a half,” Sam asked as he looked down at the boy fondy.

“So you were twenty, nineteen when you knocked the girl up,” Dean said. He would almost find it funny if what just went down hadn’t. Sam used to joke with him that he could have like a dozen kids out there with how often he picked up women. It turned out Sam was the first to have a child. 

Sam flinched slightly, as that wasn’t even close to what happened.

“So why Loki? Where’d you come up with that?” Dean asked. It wasn’t exactly conventional, which was why he’d initially thought Sam had a dog or something. It sounded more like something you’d name an animal.

“He’s named after a… friend,” Sam said a bit uncomfortably. “HIs middle name is Dean.”

Dean grinned a little. “Kid’s set for life then.”

Sam allowed a small smile himself. “Take your next left. There’s a store on that street.”

Dean nodded and followed his brother’s instructions.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean was woken up the next morning after feeling something touch his leg. He jumped up with a start and reached for the knife under his pillow. He had his hand circled around it when he saw the toddler sitting by his feet clutching a stuffed dog that Sam bought for him last night. He immediately released his grip on the knife, grateful the kid didn’t see it and get the crap scared out of him. 

“Hi,” Loki said happily. 

“Hey, buddy,” Dean said before looking over at his brother and finding him fast asleep. It was about time. Sam didn’t do much sleeping last night. Dean couldn’t really blame him. He’d just watched his girl go up in flames. If they’d gotten back any later, he would’ve lost his son too. Who could sleep in a situation like that.

Loki pointed to his father’s sleeping form. “Daddy.”

Dean chuckled. It was still hard to believe that Sam, his baby brother, was a father. It was just weird. Sam was always his little brother. He was someone Dean needed to take care, not that he ever minded. It was strange to know that now taking care of someone was Sam’s job. “Yeah, that’s Daddy.”

Loki looked around the room and then back at Dean. “Mommy?”

Dean shifted uncomfortably. He wished Sam was awake right now. He couldn’t tell this kid anything about his mother. Hopefully he could distract him though. That worked wonders with Sam until he was around seven or eight. “Uh, she’s not here right now, but your daddy is and so am I. I’m your Uncle Dean. I’m awesome.”

“Unca Dee?” Loki asked.

Dean smiled. It felt good to hear the kid call him that, and it really drove it home. He was an uncle. He was gonna spoil this kid mercilessly. “Yeah.”

Loki climbed off the bed and went over to his father, intent on waking him up.

Dean got up and reached the toddler a second before he reached Sam. He picked him up, earning a giggle from the little boy. “Let’s let your dad sleep for a while. He needs some more of that. I know he got you some toys, but I’m not sure where he put them.”

Loki wiggled in Dean’s arms to get down.

Dean put the boy on the floor and started looking for the bag

Loki, meanwhile, made his way over to Dean’s duffle bag, which was sipped tight. He waved his hand over it and it unzipped on its own.

Sam, meanwhile opened his eyes and turned just in time to see his son reach into Dean’s bag. Knowing there were most probably weapons in that bag, he jumped up and grabbed his son. “Loki, no!”

Loki laughed and shifted in his father’s arms. “Hi, Daddy.”

Dean had looked up after hearing his brother’s panicked voice. He saw his opened bag and his brother and nephew right next to it. “Dude, how’d he even get that open? He couldn’t possible have worked the zipper in the two seconds my back was turned.

“Y...you must have left it open,” Sam said. He was sure that wasn’t the case though. Loki was perfectly capable of opening that bag without even touching it. Dean couldn’t know that though. He had no idea how Dean would respond to what Loki would do. Sam wanted to believe his brother would understand, but it wasn’t a risk he could take.

Dean frowned. He was sure he’d closed that damn bag. He supposed he could’ve forgotten though, and it wasn’t important enough for him to worry about. “Yeah, I guess. Sorry, I thought I closed it. I’ll make sure next time. What do you say we get dressed and get some breakfast?”

“Yeah, sure,” Sam said.

Dean grabbed some clothes from his bag, made sure to zip it up tight, and headed for the bathroom.

Sam turned to his son as soon as Dean was out of view and started whispering to him. “Buddy, you can’t do that here. You can’t use your powers in front of Dean.”

“Unca Dee!” Loki squealed. 

Sam couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips. He should’ve known it wouldn’t take his brother long to proclaim who he was to Loki. Truthfully, Sam liked it. Dean was the first person he wanted to tell when he found out he was going to have a child. But he’d made the decision that his brother could never know. A part of him still wished he didn’t, because he didn’t know if he could trust Dean. He trusted Dean with his life, but he wasn’t sure he could trust him with Loki’s. He did know though that he could not trust his father with him, not ever.

Dean came out a few seconds later. “Alright, you’re up, man. You want me to watch him?” 

“No, I’ll change us both at once,” Sam said. He then went to grab the bags of stuff he’d gotten from the store last night and picked out some clothes for both him and Loki. Then he took his son into the bathroom.

Sam put his son down on the floor and bent down. He looked into his boy’s eyes and smiled, remembering another pair of golden eyes.

 

Flashback

 

Sam was sitting alone at a bar not far from campus. He hadn’t wanted to come. Hell, he wasn’t even supposed to be there. He was very much underage. But a friend who managed to get them some fake IDs begged him to come and be his wingman. It worked. He was off somewhere with a girl, leaving him alone at the bar.

Soon a girl with blond hair made her way over and sat next to Sam. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Sam said before looking away, hoping the girl would go away. He didn’t do well around girls, mainly because he wasn’t interested in them. Sure, he dated a bit and kissed a couple of girls, but he was really just going through the motions with them and hoping that he would like one of them the way he was supposed to. It took him a long time to accept the fact that he was gay, and he never told a soul that he was. He was very much in the closet. 

“I’m Nicole,” the girl said.

“Sam,” he replied politely.

“Nice to meet you, Sam. How would you like to buy me a drink?” she asked with a flirtatious smile.

“Uh, no thanks. I’ll be leaving soon anyway,” Sam said.

Nicole got up and put an arm around Sam. “Come on, I can show you a good time.”

Just then, Sam noticed a man with blondish brown hair touch Nicole’s shoulder.

She turned around.

“Hey, you’re the one with the red mustang, right? I think I saw you drive up in it,” the man said.

“Yeah, so.”

“Well, it’s about to get towed,” he said.

“Oh, God!” she said, scrambling to the door. 

“Thanks,” Sam said. He could tell the man did it help him.

“Yeah, well, apparently the girl can’t take a hint. And they say the guys are dense,” he said before taking the seat next to Sam.

Sam eyed the man a little bit. He was older and really hot. If he didn’t know he was gay before, he certainly would after seeing this guy.

“What’s your poison, kid?” the man asked.

“You don’t have to,” Sam said.

“Pick something or I will.”

“Uh, a beer I guess. It doesn’t matter what kind,” Sam said.

He called the bartender over and ordered two beers. He slid one over to Sam when they arrived and opened his own. 

“Thanks.”

“So not into ladies, huh?”

Sam spit out the sip of beer he’d just taken. “What? Yes, I am. I just….”

“Hey, calm down, kid. I’m not judging. Personally, I’ll go either way,” the man said.

“Um… Uh…” Sam sputtered. He really had no idea what to say to that.

“Hey, I take it where I can get it. Speaking of…” He let his words hang and he looked at Sam leeringly.

“I’m not gay,” Sam lied. 

“Yeah, you totally are. But, hey, not asking you to come out of the closet. I’m just offering a good time. You don’t want to, fine, I’ll find someone who will,” he said before standing up.

Sam watching him leave. He swore that his body moved without his knowledge as he got up and rushed to keep up with the man. “What’s your name?”

“They call me Loki.”

 

Flashback

 

“Daddy!”

Sam pulled out of his memories after hearing his son’s almost whine. Clearly the boy had been calling him for a while. Sam just couldn’t help it. Whenever he looked into Loki’s eyes, he thought of the other Loki, the man he’d quickly fallen for. It was only meant to be a one time thing, but he’d been with Loki for a couple of months before the man took off. He fell for him.

“Daddy, eat!” Loki exclaimed with a cute little huff.

“I’m sorry, buddy. Daddy was daydreaming. Let’s get dressed and go eat,” Sam said before he began removing his son’s pajamas.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam sat with his brother and son in a diner not far from their motel. They were all eating breakfast. Though Sam wasn’t really eating. He’d ordered himself a small bowl of fruit that he barely touched. He had so much on his mind, starting with Jess’ death. He was reeling from it. He’d cared about her and she had given up her whole life as it was to help him take care of his son. He repaid her by letting her get killed. 

Then there was of course Loki. Sam had to protect his son and now that Dean knew about him, he wasn’t sure how. Right now he knew Dean wouldn’t hurt Loki, but it was a whole different thing if he found out the truth about him. Loki wasn’t a normal child and Sam just didn’t know how Dean would handle that. He’d been taught his whole life to hunt anything supernatural. Loki was supernatural.

“Dude, you gonna eat?” Dean asked.

Sam looked up at his brother. “I’m not very hungry.”

“Look, man, I know what happened to J…” Dean trailed off as he looked at the toddler next to him sloppily putting cut up pieces of french toast in his mouth. Mentioning Jess in front of him probably wasn’t a good idea. The kid did not know yet that his mother was dead. “I know what happened is hurting you, but you gotta eat. You gotta keep taking care of yourself. You don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of your kid.”

Sam nodded. “I know.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about him?” Dean asked. He’d planned to wait at least a few days, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t understand why his brother wouldn’t tell him he had a child. That kid had been there when he picked up Sam and Sam never said a word about him. He was going to let him leave without ever telling him. It hurt that his brother would keep something so big from him.

Sam sighed. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to avoid this for long. He’d hid a child from Dean. He was going to demand answers for it. Unfortunately, Sam couldn’t give him a truthful one. He hated that. If there was one person Sam hated lying to, it was Dean. “Well, to be fair, I didn’t really talk to you guys much since I left. I wasn’t sure how to tell you, especially after the way I left.”

“Come on, man! That’s not a freaking explanation!” Dean said almost yelling.

“Please keep your voice down,” Sam requested. It wasn’t really the fact that the rest of the diner would hear, though he didn’t love that. He didn’t want Loki to get upset by the yelling. “Look, I just didn’t think you’d understand, and I could already hear Dad yelling. This would just be another reason for him to be disappointed in me.”

“Dad loves you, Sam,” Dean said.

Sam shrugged, not really wanting to get into an argument about their father.

“You should’ve at least told me after I showed up at your place, or when we were on the road. You just kept quiet about it. It was like you wanted to keep him from me, like you were protecting him from me,” Dean said.

Sam flinched slightly, because that was what he was doing and what he would keep doing. Loki came before anyone, even Dean. “I just didn’t know how to say it.”

Dean sighed. He wasn’t really satisfied, but he supposed it really didn’t matter. Sam had kept it from him and he couldn’t change that. Besides, his brother deserved a break right now after just losing his girlfriend. “Alright, let’s just let it go. It’s over.”

“Daddy, done!” Loki suddenly proclaimed.

Sam looked over at his son’s plate. It wasn’t empty, but he had eaten quite a bit of it, enough to satisfy Sam that he’d eaten well. “Good boy. You did good today.”

Loki beamed at his father’s words.

“I’ll get the check,” Dean said. 

 

“Okay, I’m gonna go clean him up in the bathroom,” Sam said before standing up and lifting Loki out of his high chair. Then he headed towards the bathroom.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

About fifteen minutes later, the boys walked back into the motel room. “Alright, so I figure we’ll poke around for a few days to find out if we can learn anything about what happened at your place and then we’ll try to find Dad,” Dean said.

Sam stopped and stared at his brother for a minute. Then he sat Loki down on the floor and went over to the bags of stuff he bought the night before. He grabbed a couple of toys from it and put them in front of his son. “Here, buddy, you play her for a little bit.”

Dean sighed. He had a feeling his brother was gonna fight him a little on this.

Sam walked over to his brother. “Dean, I can’t do this. I can’t go back into that life.”

“Look, man, you can’t do the normal life anymore. What happened last night is proof of that,” Dean said.

“My son is not gonna grow up the way we did,” Sam said firmly. That of course wasn’t the only thing he worried about when it came to traveling with Dean. He also knew that if he went with him, it was going to be harder to hide Loki’s powers. But either way, he still wouldn’t do it because he didn’t want Loki growing up like that.

“And what happens with the next fire, Sam. This thing is targeting our family. That’s pretty freaking clear. What happens if it comes after you? What if it comes after Loki? You think it doesn’t know you have a son? It knew where you lived. It killed your girlfriend. It could come for him next,” Dean said gravely. He really didn’t want to scare his brother, but Sam needed to understand the kind of danger they could be dealing with. Anybody with the name Winchester was a target for this thing.

Sam’s eyes grew large and he whipped his head around to look at his little boy. There was nothing but fear on his face. What Dean was saying should’ve occurred to him, but it didn’t. There were just so many other things on his mind. What if it did come after Loki. He couldn’t let that happen.

Dean put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We won’t let anything happen to him. We’ll find Dad and we’ll figure out how to finally get this son of a bitch. 

Sam didn’t answer. He just went over, grabbed his son and went and sat on his bed, holding his little boy as close as he could. The danger to his kid seemed to be coming from everywhere and he didn’t know how to stop it all. He really wished Loki were here. The other Loki. The one that despite how much he should hate him, for hiding the truth about himself alone, he loved and needed.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam sat at a small table in his and Dean’s motel room on his laptop. Loki was playing a couple of feet away from him playing with some trucks. It had been a couple of months since Jess died. Sam had reluctantly decided to stay with Dean, hunt, and search for their father. He stayed because he didn’t see much choice. It was necessary for him to find what killed Jess to make sure it couldn’t come after Loki next.

Sam was scared for Dean to find out what Loki could do. Or even worse, for them to find their dad and for him to find out. Dean might understand. He wouldn’t like it. He’d be pissed as hell that Sam had been with someone that wasn’t human, even if Sam didn’t know it at the time, and he’d be even more pissed that he hid it, but he might be able to get over it, especially since he knew Loki now. There father, however, was a whole other matter. He would never be able to get passed the fact that Loki wasn’t completely human. But Sam could and would handle his father if he had to. An evil supernatural creature he knew nothing about wasn’t something he could stop on his own.

“Daddy, play!” Loki demanded from the floor.

Sam smiled at his boy. “Soon, buddy. Right now, Daddy has to do something to help Uncle Dean to go to work.” Sam didn’t actually hunt with Dean. He wished he could if for no other reason than to back up his brother. It was hard to let Dean take on the monsters while he sat back and worried about him. But he had no choice. He had to take care of Loki. There was no way in hell he would do what his father did. He would never leave his son alone like he and his brother were left all the time. And he couldn’t exactly get him a babysitter, not just because what they did and how they lived, but because no one could understand someone as special as Loki. 

Soon, Dean walked into the motel room with a couple of bags of food. “Hey, I got food.” 

Sam got up and picked up his son. “Loki, you hungry?”

Loki wiggled in his father’s arms. “No, wanna play.”

Sam chuckled and brought his little boy back to his chair and sat him on his lap. “You can play more later. It’s lunch time.”

Dean handed his brother a bag and then sat down across from him, pulling a bacon cheeseburger from his own bag.

Sam pulled out a caesar salad that he knew was his and some chicken nuggets that were obviously Loki’s. He picked up one of the nuggets and handed it to his son. 

“Anything on our ghost?” Dean asked. They were investigating a haunting that took out a whole family about a week ago. 

Sam glanced down at Loki. He really didn’t like this kind of talk around his son, but he didn’t have much choice. It was a small place and the boy was bound to hear. Besides, he wouldn’t really understand that kind of thing yet. “Uh, yeah, one of the previous owners, a Matthew Jacobs. Apparently, he was murdered by his older brother about ten years ago. The older brother was caught and went to prison and died there, but I guess that isn’t enough.”

“Please tell me he’s buried somewhere?” Dean said.

Sam grimaced and shook his head. “Cremated.”

“Great. I’m gonna have go back to that house and try to find out what’s keeping it here, Dean said sounding annoyed.

“Be careful, Dean,” Sam said. He really hated leaving his brother alone to handle all these jobs. Dean was a great hunter, but it was still better that he have someone to have his back.

“Always, Sammy. Hey, if you ever wanna do the leg work for a change, I wouldn’t mind staying here with him,” Dean said, nodding to Loki, who was munching on a chicken nugget. He wasn’t sure why he was offering. He had no interest in sitting around while his brother was out hunting alone. Well, actually, he did know why he was offering. Sam never left him alone with Loki, ever, not even to go to the store or pick up food. It didn’t sit right with Dean.

“No, it’s fine. You can handle the dangerous crap. I’m perfectly fine doing research and taking care of my son,” Sam said. 

Dean sighed. He wanted to belief that Sam was still just clingy to his kid because of Jess’ death or overprotective because of the thing that was targeting their family, but Dean just couldn’t help thinking that his brother just didn’t hurt him, and that cut.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Later that night, Sam was laying on the bed next to his sleeping son reading a book while he waited for Dean. His brother had left a little over an hour ago to go back to that haunted house and try to deal with the spirit. Sam decided to read to try to take his mind off the worry. 

Suddenly, the door burst open and Dean stumbled in clutching his stomach.

Sam threw the book down and rushed to his brother. “Dean!” he exclaimed, catching his brother just before he stumbled to the floor. “What happened?”

Dean groaned in pain. “Well, the spirit apparently didn’t like me trying to destroy it. It got in a good slice with a knife before I could hit it with the rock salt. I did finally get the SOB though, destroyed what was keeping it here. Get the sewing kit, would you?”

“Let me get you to the bed first,” Sam said before helping him up and over to his bed. Once Dean was laying down, he went over to Dean’s bag to get the sewing kit.

Dean, meanwhile, sat up and started taking his jacket off. Soon after he got it off, he looked over and saw Loki sit up and get off the other bed. “Hey, buddy. Go back to bed, okay?”

Loki continued to walk over. “Unca Dee.”

Just then, Sam came over with the sewing kit. “Loki, go back to bed. Everything’s okay.”

Loki pointed to Dean. “Unca Dee hurt. Fix it.”

“I’m gonna try to fix it, buddy,” Sam assured his son.

“No, I fix it,” Loki said before climbing up on the bed and putting a hand over Dean’s wounded stomach. 

Sam and Dean both looked at the boy in confusion. “Loki, what are you doing?” Dean asked.

Loki left his hand there for a few seconds and then took it away. “All better.”

Dean gasped as the pain completely disappeared. He lifted up his shirt and found that the stab wound was completely gone. It was like it was never there. Whatever Loki had done, it healed him.

Sam went from completely shocked by his son’s actions to scared. There was no hiding the truth anymore. He’d managed to cover up Loki’s powers so far, but he couldn’t cover this up. This wasn’t like opening a bag when Dean’s back is turned or telekinetically moving his toys. Healing someone was on a whole different level. He was going to have to tell Dean the truth.


	5. Chapter 5

After getting over the shock of what he’d seen, Dean decided to take a shower. In that time, he just became pissed off. This whole time he’d been thinking that his brother didn’t trust him with his son and he was right. He knew Loki had some kind of supernatural powers and he hid them from Dean because he thought he’d hurt him. That hurt Dean and made him angry. Loki was a part of Sam. For that reason alone, Dean would never hurt him, no matter what. Not to mention that Dean had come to love his nephew. Hurting him was never a possibility. 

After his shower, Dean quickly got dressed and headed back into the main room. He ran into Sam who was waiting anxiously outside the door.

“Dean…”

Dean walked right passed him to the kitchen area and grabbed a beer. Alcohol was needed for this discussion. Then he turned back to his brother. “If you even try to lie and tell me that I misinterpreted what just happened, I swear I’ll knock you out.”

Honestly, if Sam thought he could convince Dean of that, he would, but he knew better. There was no getting around telling Dean the truth. “No, you didn’t misinterpret anything.”

Dean went over to the table across from the beds and sat down. “So all those times he got into things he shouldn’t have been able to and you made excuses that it fell or it was left open or something, you were lying.”

“Yes,” Sam answered softly.

Dean took a deep breath in order to calm down. He hated being lied to and he really just wanted to scream at his brother, but he didn’t want to disturb the little boy sleeping once more, so he tried to control himself. “I guess this should be where I ask why you kept it from me, but it’s kind of obvious. You thought I’d hurt him. And that’s also why you hid him from me for so long.”

“I...I didn’t want to believe you would, but we were both raised to hate the supernatural. My son is supernatural, Dean,” Sam said.

“How is that anyway? Jess wasn’t human?” Dean asked. That was all he could think because he knew Sam was a hundred percent human. Though if Jess wasn’t human, he didn’t understand why his brother would be stupid enough to involve himself with her. Loki was one thing. He was a part of Sam, which made him at least half-human. A fully supernatural creature was something completely different.

Sam walked over and sat across from his brother. This was going to be a long conversation, one he needed to be sitting for. “No, Jess was human. She wasn’t Loki’s real mother.”

“Then who is?” Dean asked.

“He doesn’t have one. Dean, before we go further, there’s something you need to know. At one point, this was my biggest secret, something I was afraid to tell you and Dad. I’ve never been with a woman. I’m gay, Dean,” Sam said. He actually felt free when he said it. Since he was a kid, he’d been hiding that from his family. Hell, the only person who knew besides Loki was Jess.

“What?” Dean asked surprised. He’d always joked with his brother that maybe he was gay because he wasn’t as good with women as Dean was, but it was really just ribbing. He never thought it was true.

Sam nodded. “I’ve known since I was a teenager. I didn’t know how to tell you or Dad. I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”

Dean sighed. He wasn’t happy at the added lie, but now wasn’t the time to get angry about it. Sam needed to know that he accepted him gay or straight. “Sammy, I don’t give a crap who you wanna hook up with at the end of the night or what gender they are. You wanna go with guys, have at it.”

Sam sighed in relief. He’d been needing to hear that for a long time. “Thanks, Dean.”

“Wait, you said you’d never been with a woman. That’s not possible. You have a kid. Two guys can’t have a kid, unless it’s adopted, and Loki is definitely not adopted,” Dean said.

“No, he’s not. And you’re right, two normal guys can’t have a kid, but apparently if one of them isn’t normal, it’s possible,” Sam said.

“So the thing you were doing…”

“Do not call him a thing!” Sam whispered harshly.

It was then that Dean realized this wasn’t a casual thing, though he really shouldn’t be surprised. Sam wasn’t a hook up kind of person. Still, it didn’t make him happy to know that Sam had fallen for and still seemed to be hung up on this creature. “So he was able to somehow carry Loki?”

“No, I did,” Sam told him.

“You… What?” Dean asked, completely godsmacked. His brother had just freaking told him he was pregnant. That was crazy even for their family. How the hell was that even possible.

“I was pregnant with Loki. Finding that out was the freakiest thing I’d ever heard. The doctor thought he messed up the results when he gave them to me. I was sure he was right at the time, but I still bolted from the hospital, just in case something else was going on. Our family had seen too much for me to let them do those tests again. So I went and got some home tests. They came out the same as the blood tests,” Sam explained.

Dean didn’t even know what to freaking say say about that. He’d seen and heard of some pretty out there things, but a pregnant guy was too bizarre even for him. “Man. So where was the dude who did that to you?”

“He’d left,” Sam said sadly.

“What? The asshole knocks you up and takes off? And son of a bitch that’s weird to say,” Dean said before take a big gulp of his beer. He wished he had something stronger at this point.

“No, it wasn’t like that. Loki never knew that I was pregnant. He disappeared before I found out,” Sam said.

“Loki? So the ‘friend’ you named your son after was really his father?” Dean asked.

Sam nodded. 

“What is he?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t know he was anything until I found out I was pregnant. I figured then that something must have been abnormal about him. If that wasn’t enough though, Loki’s powers were,” Sam said.

“What about Jess? Where does she come in?” Dean asked.

“Well, when I found out I was pregnant, I figured the best thing I could do was take time off school and lock myself away for nine months. Jess was concerned for me and a couple of months after I hid myself away in my apartment, she came to confront me. She saw what I looked like. I had to tell her,” Sam explained.

“So clearly, you lied to me when I asked you if she knew what we did. She did know,” Dean said, clearly unhappy. Again, he hated being lied to, and it felt like that was all his brother had done lately

“Yes. Look, I’m sorry about all the lies, Dean, but I was trying to protect my son,” Sam said.

“You didn’t need to protect him from me!” Dean snapped before looking over at Loki. “I love him and I love you. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt either of you.”

“Thanks,” Sam said. He felt like he could finally breathe again. He’d wanted to believe Dean would accept Loki after knowing the truth, but he was really worried about it. 

Dean turned back to his brother. “But we still have to find out what we’re dealing with. We have to know what the other half of Loki is.”

“I’ve tried, Dean, but all he’s exhibited until tonight was telekinesis. That fits a lot of things. Even with the healing, it’s probably still a wide spectrum,” Sam said.

“I’m not talking about research, Sammy. We’re gonna find your baby daddy.”


	6. Chapter 6

Sam woke up the next morning to the sound of a loud giggle. He smiled when he looked over and saw his brother and son playing on the floor a few feet away. He could finally watch Loki with his brother and not feel trepidation. It lifted a huge weight off his chest. He had been so worried that his brother would see Loki differently and then Sam would have to take on his own brother, which he would’ve done in a second to protect his son. The scene in front of him, however, was proof that he never had to worry about that.

Sam sat up in bed. “Hey, guys.”

Loki turned around to his father. Then he jumped up and ran to him.

Sam caught his son and picked him up on his lap. “Hey, buddy. Are you and Uncle Dean having fun.”

“Uh huh. We’re playing with cars,” Loki said with a smile.

Dean stood up from the floor. “Hey, pal, why don’t you play by yourself for a few minutes while I talk to Daddy.

Loki nodded and pushed himself off of his father’s lap before going over to his toys. 

Dean went over and sat down on the bed opposite Sam. “You sleep okay?”

“Yeah, pretty well. No nightmares, and with you finally knowing the truth, I guess I could rest more peacefully. I’m sorry, Dean. I should’ve trusted you,” Sam said.

“Yeah, you should’ve, but I guess it’s kind of understandable that you didn’t. I was thinking about it last night. Everything you told me was kind of freaky, even for us. If I didn’t know Loki and he wasn’t yours, I would be worried. I’d like to think I wouldn’t harm a child, but I’d certainly be worried about whether I ought to do something,” Dean said. No matter how hurt he was by his brother’s distrust, he could kind of see why it was there. Sam was just trying to protect his son. Dean didn’t really have the right to judge him for that.

“I know you would. I guess that was in my head,” Sam said.

“I do stand by what I said last night though. We need to find out what he is,” Dean whispered so Loki wouldn’t hear.

“He’s not bad, Dean. He’s never hurt anyone,” Sam said a bit defensively.

“I know, Sam. I love him, okay. I don’t see him as anything other than my nephew. But we need to know what he is, so we can be prepared for anything else he might one day be able to do. Plus, he’s gonna ask one day why he’s so different from other kids. You gotta have that answer, man,” Dean said.

Sam actually hadn’t thought about that. Dean was right, Loki would ask that question. Sam needed to be able to give his son the answers he was looking for when that day came. “Yeah, okay, you’re right.

“Great. So we find this other Loki,” Dean said.

Sam stiffened at the idea. It wanted to see Loki again. He ached to be with him again and for him to know and help with their son, but at the same time, he was scared. He was afraid to hear out loud what had become pretty obvious to him. That he didn’t really matter all that much to Loki. But he owed it to his son fo find him, not just for answers, but also to hopefully give him his other father. “Alright, but I have no idea how to even find him.”

“He never gave you a last name?” Dean asked. He supposed it wouldn’t matter even if the dude did give a last name, as it was probably just an alias anyway, but who knew?

“No. It really just started off as a casual one nighter and then just sort of kept happening,” Sam said.

“Well, what do you know about him?” Dean asked.

“Nothing that could help,” Sam said.

“Anything helps, Sam, you know that. Tell me what he looks like first,” Dean suggested. 

“Well, he’s got brownish blond hair and the same golden eyes Loki has. He’s kind of short, a little shorter than you.”

Dean laughed, not able to help but tease his brother. “The giant was dating a midget!”

Sam just glared at his brother in response. “He’s kind, though very sarcastic and has no filter. He tells things like they are. I tried to tell him I wasn’t gay and he wouldn’t hear it. He said I totally was. He helped me be okay with it, even if I was still wary about telling anyone.”

Dean winced at the fond way his brother talked about this guy. He knew from last night that he cared for him, but it was becoming more and more apparent that his brother loved this guy. It was really gonna suck if they had to waste him, and Dean couldn’t really see an outcome where they wouldn’t have to. He wasn’t sure if Sam would be able to do it. “Anything else?”

“Serious sweet tooth. I can’t tell you how many times I saw him with a lollypop in his mouth or a candy bar in his hand,” Sam said with a smile.

“Alright, well, you’re right, that’s not a lot to go on. Look, since it’s urgent, I say we focus on finding Dad and then he can help us find your boyfriend,” Dean said.

“Absolutely not! Sam said in a sharp tone that left no room for argument.

Dean was taken aback by his brother’s tone. “What?”

“Dad isn’t going to be brought into this. I’m not going to tell him about Loki and neither will you,” Sam said firmly. He’d accepted that his father would find out that Loki existed, but if he could avoid it, the man would never learn how he was conceived or the gifts he had.

“Didn’t you just learn that you could trust us?” Dean asked with a huff.

“No, I learned that I could trust you, but I was already hoping I could. I had my doubts because of the way we were raised, but a large part of me believed in you, believed you’d never harm someone that came from me. No part of me has that faith in Dad. It wouldn’t matter to him that Loki was mine. He’d come after him just for being something other than human,” Sam said.

“That’s not true,” Dean immediately argued.

Sam shook his head. He refused to have this conversation. He and Dean would argue relentlessly about their father in the past, but this was not going to be one of those times. Loki was Sam’s son, which meant it was his call. That was it. “No, Dean, we’re not involving him. And let me tell you way. Because if we do involve him and he tries to hurt my son, I will kill him!” He meant it too. If his father so much as lifted a finger against his child, he would use any method he had to stop him. No one would ever hurt Loki.

Dean could tell that that was not an empty threat. People used that phrase all the time, especially with relatives. It was usually just someone blowing off steam. Sam was not. He was dead serious. If their father harmed Loki, Sam would kill him. Though he really couldn’t fault him there. Any good father would do the same. Not that Dean thought it would come to that. He was sure his father would understand. But grudgingly, Dean had to admit that it was Sam’s decision. “Okay, fine. We’ll have to find another way.”

Just then, Loki walked over to Sam and leaned on his leg. “Daddy, you mad?” He’d heard his daddy’s voice become a little bit louder and it upset him a little.

Sam smiled and pulled his son onto his lap. “No, buddy, I’m not mad. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Yeah, everything’s cool, big guy. I’m gonna hit the shower. The case is done, so we should get ready to get out of here,” Dean said before standing up and walking away.


	7. Chapter 7

Dean pulled his car onto the salvage yard belonging to a man who’d been like a second father to him and Sam. He and Sam had just finished hunt nearby and Dean had the idea that maybe Bobby could help them find the thing that got it’s hooks into Sam. As a kid, he remembered Bobby having info on nearly every supernatural thing that existed.

Dean had not told Sam of his plan. Once they finished the hunt they were on, he suggested that they take a few days off and let Sam think he was going bar hopping for the day instead of making the two hour drive to see the old hunter. He wasn’t sure how Sam would take them going to Bobby for help, and honestly, he wanted to get a good handle on what they were dealing with before Sam found out.

Dean parked his the car and then got out, making his way to Bobby’s front door. He knocked on the door and waited.

Bobby opened the door a few seconds later. “Well, damn, if it ain’t Dean Winchester. Why are you knocking? Get your ass in here, boy.”

Dean chuckled and made his way inside. “Hey, Bobby. I’m kinda surprised you recognized me. It’s been a long time.” He was about sixteen the last time he’d seen Bobby. It was the day Bobby threatened to shoot his father with rock salt.”

“I’d never forget your idjit face. How you been?” Bobby asked, leading the way to the kitchen.

“Good. Still hunting evil pieces of crap. That’s why I’m here. I need your help,” Dean said.

“I figured. Your daddy ask you to come?” Bobby asked.

“No. I haven’t seen him in a few months. We’ve been looking for him,” Dean said

Bobby sat down at the table. “Listen, you know I’d do anything to help you boys, but if you’re here for help finding your father, I’m not touching that one with a ten foot pole. That’s an impossible job that just don’t pay enough.”

Dean laughed. “No, me and Sammy got that one covered. We’ll find him eventually”

“So Sam’s with you, huh? I heard he went off to school,” Bobby said. He’d been proud when he heard Sam went off to school. He had never wanted the hunting life, and frankly Bobby always thought he was way too smart to waste his life on hunting. It just wasn’t for him.

Dean raised an eyebrow in surprise. “How’d you know? I know Dad didn’t tell you.”

“Hey, your daddy and I might not be the best of friends these days, but I kept tabs on you two,” Bobby said.

Dean nodded. “Sam did go to school, but a few months ago, he came back to the job. A friend of his was killed by the same thing that murdered our mother.”

Bobby cringed. He couldn’t imagine Sam took that well. It saddened Bobby to know that Sam had to go through that, especially after working so hard to make a new life for himself. “So you want me to help you find the thing? Unless you’ve got something new, I’m not sure how I can help. I tried to help John when he first came to me and we found nothing.”

“No, that’s not it either. We’re looking for something else right now,” Dean said.

“What’s that? And where’s Sam? You said he came back. That you’re working together,” Bobby said.

“We are, but he doesn’t know I’m here. I’m not sure he’d like me involving you. He didn’t want me to involve Dad.”

Bobby narrowed his eyes slightly. “What’s going on, Dean.”

Dean sighed. He knew he’d have to tell Bobby something, but he couldn’t tell him everything or even an overwhelming amount of it. The details had to be Sam’s choice to tell. “Sammy got involved with something a couple of years ago. He thought it was human, but it wasn’t.”

“Balls!” Bobby cursed at the thought of younger Winchester getting involved with whatever this thing was. Who knew what it did to him? “What is it?

“We don’t know. That’s what we wanna find out,” Dean said.

“This was years ago? You wouldn’t be dredging this up unless it did something to Sam. What’s going on?” Bobby demanded to know. 

“Look, I can’t really explain much. It’s Sam’s call to tell you. He’s okay, Bobby, alright. It didn’t do anything permanent,” Dean said. 

“But it did something?” Bobby asked. He was not at all happy about Dean’s half-assed explanation. What had this SOB done to his boy.

“Yeah, but I don’t think it even realized it. Look, I just need to find it as soon as possible. Can you help me?” Dean asked. 

Bobby sighed. He was tempted to to try and pry more information out of Dean, but he doubted it would work. Dean wasn’t going to betray whatever secret he was keeping for Sam. “What do you know about it?”

“Not much. I have a name and a description, but the name’s probably fake and the face probably borrowed. We’ve got reason to believe it has telekinesis and healing abilities, but that’s it,” Dean said.

“Yeah, because that narrows the pool down,” Bobby said sarcastically.

“Yeah, i know, Bobby, but it’s all we have,” Dean said.

“When did Sam come across it?” Bobby asked.

“A few years ago. He was around nineteen. He met him in a bar,” Dean answered. He realized too late that he’d told Bobby that the thing appeared as a guy, which pretty much outed Sam.

If Bobby was surprised or bothered by Dean’s revelation, he didn’t show it. “So it was a one night stand.”

“I freaking wish. No, Sam fell for him. I don’t even think he cares that he now knows he’s not human. You should hear the way he talks about him,” Dean said.

“Well, that’s not really surprising. Sam’s always been a relationship type. Give me the name,” Bobby said.

“Loki,” Dean replied.

Bobby did know of a creature named Loki, but that didn’t mean it was the same thing. Loki wasn’t a very common name, but it was still possible it was a different creature simply using an alias or a nickname. “You know anything else about him.”

“Not really. Not unless having a gigantic sweet tooth and sarcasm are powers,’ Dean said jokingly.

“It’s a trickster,” Bobby said immediately. The sweet tooth thing sent it home. Sam had fallen for a trickster.

“Huh?” Dean asked confused.

“It’s a trickster,” he repeated.

“What’s a trickster and how do you know?” Dean asked. He was flabbergasted by how Bobby had figured it out so easily when just a second ago the older hunter was complaining about the lack of information. 

“Tricksters are addicted to sweets and there is one named Loki.”

“Damn. The freaking sweet tooth thing is what gave it away?” Dean asked in disbelief. “So what is it? What’s a trickster? I’m guessing it’s a little more complicated than just a simple class clown playing pranks.”

“Oh, yeah. They play pranks, but they usually end up with someone dead,” Bobby said.

Dean cringed. This wasn’t going to go over well with Sam. He was in love with it and it looked like they’d have to kill it. “So they kill.”

“Yeah. They don’t just kill anyone. They usually choose their victims, mostly grade a assholes, but they kill. They’re considered demigods and they’re powerful as hell,” Bobby said. He’d never actually met a trickster, but he’d read about them. They were probably the most powerful thing any hunter had come across.

“But they can be killed, right?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, though not easily. It takes a wooden stake dipped in their victim’s blood,” Bobby said.

“Great. That’ll be easy to come by,” Dean said sarcastically. “How do I find it?”

“There’s always a way to summon a God, but you’re an idjit if you think about summoning it without having the means to kill it,” Bobby said with a glare.

“We can make up the stakes. I’ll use my blood and make and trick it into thinking it’s the blood of one of its victims,” Dean said.

“You wanna trick a trickster? Are you stupid?” Bobby asked.

“I have to talk to it, Bobby,” Dean said. He had to do this for Sam and Loki. He’d figure out what to do about the trickster later, but for now, he had to get answers.

“There’s no way to trap a trickster, Dean. If we bring it here, we may find ourselves at it’s mercy,” Bobby warned.

“If you don’t want to help, it’s okay. I’ll do it myself,” Dean said.

Bobby sighed. There was no way that was gonna happen. “The hell you will. Let’s do this.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Dean stood with Bobby in his basement holding a stake as the older hunter set up the altar to summon the trickster. Bobby had just about finished when Dean’s phone went off. He took it off and saw that it was Sam. He ignored it. He was not gonna let Sam know about this. Sam would wanna be there and there was no way in hell this thing got near his brother again. 

“Alright, we’re about ready?”

“Okay. So what’s next? How do we get him there?”

“According to the book, you pray for him,” Bobby said. Apparently Loki was like any other God. If you wanted him, you had to pray.”

“I gotta pray?” Dean grumbled. He hadn’t prayed since he was four, before his mother was murdered. After that, as far as he was concerned, there was no one out there to pray to. Now he was expected to pray to some dick trickster that knocked up his brother? This sucked.

“If you want him there, yeah,” Bobby said in an annoyed tone.

“What if he doesn’t come?” Bobby asked.

“We set up an altar in his name. He’ll come,” Bobby said.

Dean sighed before closing his eyes and silently praying for the Trickster Loki to appear before him. He made it short and sweet, just asking the Trickster to show his ass.

“Is that really any way to pray to someone?” a third voice suddenly asked

Dean and Bobby both turned around to see a short man blondish hair and golden eyes standing by the stairs with a smirk on his face. Dean knew it was him. He looked just like Sam had described. This was Loki.


	8. Chapter 8

Gabriel stood in front of the two men smirking as the short, blond Winchester glared at him. When he’d heard Dean Winchester’s prayer, he considered ignoring it. Honestly, he should’ve ignored it. He’d already had too much interaction with Winchesters so far. What was only meant to be a little fun with the youngest Winchester had turned much more heavy and not just on Sam’s part. Gabriel had fallen much harder than he ever anticipated. So, yeah, he should’ve ignored the call. But he couldn’t. Just the thought of seeing Sammy again made him come, and while it seemed he wasn’t here, Gabriel still felt giddy at the thought of messing with Sam’s big brother.

Gabriel took a step forward, only for the two men to raise the stakes they held in a threatening manner, which only caused Gabriel to laugh. Even if he could be killed the trickster way, those stakes wouldn’t work. They were made with Dean Winchester’s blood, not any of his victims. “Really? Trying to trick a trickster? I would think you were smarter than that. Well, maybe not. You’re not exactly the smart one in the family. Anyway, we both know those stakes won’t do a thing to me.”

Bobby lowered his stake and sent Dean an ‘I told you so’ glare. 

“So what do you want? And aren’t we missing a member of this party? You know, dark, handsome, and sasquatch?” Gabriel asked. He knew that Dean knew what went on between him and Sam. He didn’t know how he found out what he was, but there was no other reason for Dean to pray to him.

Dean growled in response. “You asshole! You know what your did to my brother?”

“I did a lot of things to your brother,” Gabriel said without missing a beat. “Let’s see, that first night night, I did this really awesome thing with his…”

“Shut up!” Bobby spat. He could kill this thing for even touching Sam. If only he had a stake that would kill the damned thing.

“A bit prudish, huh? Have it your way. So where is Sammy? I would love to reconnect with him,” Gabriel said with a lustful look in his eyes. It was only partially goading. He really would like to reconnect with his Sammy. Yes, he called him his Sammy and he’d given up thinking of him any other way.

“You’re not getting anywhere near my brother!” Dean snapped.

Gabriel laughed. “Hate to break it to you, bucko, but if I really wanted to I could get to him or bring him to me with a snap of the fingers, and I mean that literally.”

“You touch my brother and I will kill you as painfully as possible!” Dean swore.

“It’s a little late for that. So you gonna tell me what you want or did you just call me here to make adorable little threats?” Gabriel mocked.

“First I wanna know why you did it? Why’d you screw with my brother?” Dean asked. There had to be a reason this bastard went after Sam. He had to know who he was. He had some kind of motive.

Gabriel shrugged. “Saw a hot giant-like kid in a bar and thought I’d have some fun.” Of course it had turned into much more, but Dean didn’t get to know that.

“Like hell! You targeted him! What were you looking to do, get to me or my dad?” Dean asked angrily.

Gabriel scoffed. “That’s a fine ego you’ve got there, buddy. Sorry, but my attention was all on Sammy.”

“Don’t call him that!” Dean growled. No one but he and his dad got to call Sam that. “You screwed him over. You got him attached to you and then you ditched him when he needed you! You know, he says you didn’t know, but I think you did. Maybe you even planned it.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Gabriel asked. He was truly confused now. What the hell was it that Winchester was accusing him of knowing?

“That’s it, isn’t it? You planned it. You left a piece of yourself behind in my brother, hoping to populate the world with miniature tricksters. Well, you failed because we’re not gonna let him turn out like you!” Dean said heatedly.

“Dean, what the hell…?” Bobby started, but he cut off as he watched the Trickster angrily grab Dean.

Gabriel had Dean against the wall within a couple of seconds. “Kid, you better talk now! What the hell is going on?”

“Get your hands off him,” Bobby said before rushing over and attempted to pull the Trickster off of Dean. It was like trying to move a brick wall. He didn’t even budge.

“Answer me!” Gabriel demanded in a dangerous tone as he pressed as he increased his old on the hunter.

Dean groaned. This damn thing was strong. The Trickster had him pinned with one arm pushed against his shoulders and it felt like they were gonna break soon. “You...You knocked him up.”

“What?” Gabriel asked in shock.

“What?” Bobby asked even more surprised. The last he knew that still wasn’t possible. He’d seen a lot, but never a pregnant male. And he was kind of annoyed that Dean had hit it from him.

“You have a kid. One that you’ll never see. We won’t let you corrupt him,” Dean said scathingly despite the position he was in. 

Gabriel just stood there in shock. He had never anticipated something like this. As an angel, he knew it was possible for his kind to get a male pregnant, but it was so damn rare. He just didn’t imagine that he could’ve done it. He had a child. He had a kid with Sam.

Gabriel let go of Dean after a second and just stood there, taking the information in. Then he decided that keeping his distance from Sam wasn’t an option anymore. He didn’t care about the damn fight his brothers were attempting to start. He needed to see the person he loved and his child.

Dean watched as the Trickster disappeared. ‘Damn it, he’s going after Sam!”

“There a little something you think you should’ve mentioned before, Idjit?! Honestly, boy, you leave the most important part out?!” Bobby grumbled.

“I don’t have time, Bobby, I have to get to them,” Dean said before rushing up the stairs.

“I’m going with you,” Bobby said as he quickly followed.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Meanwhile, Sam had just put Loki to bed and went to call Dean again. His brother had left hours earlier telling him he was going to go have some fun. That was Dean speak for bar hopping and finding random women, so usually, Sam would just leave his brother alone, but he had this feeling that something else was going on. Unfortunately, Dean wouldn’t answer his freaking phone.

Just as Sam picked up his phone to call, there was a knock at the door. He grabbed his knife from the table just in case and went to answer the door. As he opened it, he was shocked by who was there. “Dad.”


	9. Chapter 9

Sam stared at his father, not at all happy to see him. Yes, he and Dean had been searching for him to find out what had killed their mother and Jess, but a huge part of him had always been opposed to the idea. “Dad, what are you doing here? How’d you know where we were?”

John pushed past his son and into the hotel room. His eyes immediately fell on the toddler asleep on the bed farthest away. He didn’t seem at all surprised to see him.

“Did Dean call you?” Sam asked after closing the door. He didn’t want to believe his brother would go behind his back like that after he made it very clear that he didn’t want their father to know about Loki, but how else would their father have found them and why else would he seem so unsurprised by Loki’s presence. 

John glared at his son. “He damn well should’ve! What the hell did you do?!” 

Sam regarded his father carefully and maneuvered himself between his father and son. He didn’t know exactly what his father knew, but he wouldn’t risk him hurting Loki. 

“Did you think I wouldn’t keep up with you? That I didn’t talk to people about went on in California? The people I talked to told me you and Jessica had a kid in that apartment! I thought it was a mistake. Then I was in Lawrence at Missouri’s right after you took care of the poltergeist. She told there was a kid with you,” John said angrily.

Sam bristled at the information. “You were there and didn’t even bother to talk to us?”

“Don’t you turn this on me, boy!” John said, raising his voice slightly.

“Keep your voice down!” Sam said harshly.

“You don’t tell me how to talk, Samuel!” John yelled.

Loki began to whimper at the yelling. “Daddy?”

Sam sighed before going over and picking up his son. “Hey, buddy. I’m sorry we woke you.”

“No yelling, Daddy,” Loki said in a firm tone that would’ve been cute if not for the situation.

“I’m sorry, pal. No more yelling,” Sam promised.

Loki turned back to the bed and reached his hand for the stuffed dog that laid there. It flew into his arms instantly.

Sam cursed under his breath, knowing he’d just been outed to his father. 

John’s eyes grew as big as saucers and he just stared at the child in his son’s arms. Then his eyes moved to his son’s and they seemed to have fire in them. “What the hell have you done?!”

Loki shrunk into his father and buried his head in his shoulder, seeking protection from the scary man yelling.

Sam took a couple of steps back and rubbed his son’s back soothingly. 

“What evil ass thing did you lay down with Sam! What the hell is he!” John demanded to know as he advanced on the two of them.

“Take another step towards them and I’ll make sure it’s the last one you ever take!” a voice behind John said in a calm, yet dangerous, voice.

Sam looked at the newly arrived man in shock. “Loki.” If he didn’t have their son in his arms, he was sure his legs would’ve given out just at the sight of his former lover. It had been so long since he’d seen him. He couldn’t believe he was here now. How did he knew where they were? He wasn’t watching him the whole time, was he?

“Hi, Sammy,” Gabriel said with a smile. He’d been there for a little bit, but he didn’t want to get involved at first. He was afraid his presence would only make the situation worse. But then Winchester had approached Sam and their son in a manner Gabriel considered threatening and he refused to wait any longer to make his presence known. 

John immediately took his gun out and raised it to shoot the being that was clearly not human.

Gabriel had the gun out of John’s hand and in his own within seconds. He could’ve let John whoot him. It wouldn’t have done anything to him, but it would’ve frightened his child further.

Loki turned his head to get a peek at who the new voice belonged to. He could feel that the man was like him, and he was trying to help him and his Daddy.

Gabriel gave his boy a big smile before turning to John and holding up his gun. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you these weren’t toys, Johnny?”

“What are you?” John demanded to know as he reached for the knife in his back pocket.

Gabriel had that before the hunter even got it out. “Seriously, what is with you Winchester’s and violence?”

“What are you?! And how do you know my son?!” John yelled angrily.

Loki started to get scared again and let out a whine.

Gabriel turned to Sam. “Sorry, Sammy, but I think it’s best if I handle this alone,” he said before snapping his fingers and sending Sam and their child to his apartment.

“You son of a bitch! Where is my son?!” John demanded to know before lunging at him.

Gabriel waved his hand, sending the man clear across the room. “You’re in over your head here, Winchester. I’m not a witch, or a spirit, or even a demon. You don’t have a prayer against someone like me.”

John went to get up again, but with the wave of the other man’s hand, he was sent right back to the ground.

“You know, I’d heard a lot about you from Sam. Not the hunting aspect obviously. Sammy thought I was human and as such tried to hide all supernatural topics from me. But he didn’t need to mention hunting to convince me you were an ass. You treated him like garbage. You forced your way of life on a child who reasonably wanted no part of it. You damaged his self-esteem, comparing him to his brother. You made him feel bad about wanting an education. You actually kicked him out of the family for daring to want to go to college!” Gabriel said, his voice becoming louder and more angry with each word he spoke.

“Like I need a lecture from an evil piece of crap like you,” John said in disgust.

Gabriel smirked, but his face made it clear that he was far from amused. “I’ve been wanting to have a go at you for a while now, though this wasn’t how I wanted it. Tonight, all I wanted to do was reunite with my lover and bond with my son. You had to ruin that, so now I’m even more annoyed.

John’s eyes widened in disbelief. Sam had been with this creature? That kid was his? What the hell was his son thinking? How could he be stupid enough to let this happen. Even if he didn’t know at first, the fact that he conceived a child with a man should’ve been a clue and he should’ve taken care of it, made sure the kid never existed. 

“That’s right, Johnny, they’re mine. No one will ever touch what belongs to me, understand? You come after them and I’ll let you know exactly what happens to those who piss me off!” Gabriel swore.

John got up and went after him. “I’m not gonna let you or your spawn hurt my son.”

Gabriel let him get within striking distance and punched him, sending him flying across the room. “Speak of my son like that again and I’ll make sure you get exactly what you deserve. As it is, the only reason I don’t give you a bigger lesson now is because of Sam.

John couldn’t move. Despite the thing’s size, it was strong as hell. He felt like his face had been caved in and every bone in his back had been broken.

“Well, adios, Winchester. I have a family to take care of. Your other offspring should be arriving within a couple hours, maybe sooner since he’s probably breaking every speeding law there is. So he’ll get you some help soon. In the meantime, you can deal,” Gabriel said carelessly before disappearing.


	10. Chapter 10

Sam began to freak out a little when he realized he was no longer in the motel room with his father and Loki. Instead he was in a nice looking living room and neither man was anywhere to be seen. That freaked him out. Loki had sent him and their son away so he could deal with Sam’s father. That wasn’t going to end well.

Sam actually wasn’t sure who to be worried for. His father was a good hunter and usually got what he went after, but Loki seemed to be more powerful than anything they’d encountered before. He’d sent the two of them away with a single finger snap. Sam couldn’t even manage a guess of what he could do.

Sam’s thoughts were interrupted by a small whimper coming from his son. He shifted him in his arms so that the boy was looking at him. “Hey, buddy, everything’s okay..”

Loki looked around and then turned back to his father. “Don’t like that man, Daddy. He’s scary.”

Sam bounced him a little. “It’s okay, Loki. He’ll never hurt you.” Sam would kill his father if he even came near his son again. True, his dad hadn’t hurt Loki and really hadn’t had a lot of time to react to him, but from the little Sam had seen, his father wasn’t going to accept him, plus he’d already scared the hell out of the boy. Sam would keep his father away.

“Where’d we go?” Loki asked in confusion as he looked around again. He knew they were not in the same place as before.

“I don’t know,” Sam said as he looked around the apartment. They were in a decent size living room. There was a large, black couch against one wall with a matching loveseat off to the side of it. A nice glass coffee table sat in front of the two couches. Across from the loveseat and by the door was a large flatscreen TV mounted on the wall. Connecting to the living room was the dining room. A black, rectangular table with matching chairs was a few feet behind the loveseat. It was probably the nicest place he’d ever been in. 

“Daddy, can I have a drink?” Loki asked. 

“Uh, yeah,” Sam said before walking through the living room and dining room in search of the kitchen. He found it to through the doorway to the right of the dining room. It was pretty spacious as well, even having enough room for a small round, glass table set in the middle of the room.

Sam pulled pulled out one on of the chairs and put Loki down on it. “Stay there, buddy,” he said before he began going through cabinets for a cup. Normally, he’d feel weird about going through someone’s house, but since it was Loki’s, he felt better about it. Besides, he was getting something for their son.

Sam found nothing but glass cups in the cupboards. He grabbed one and brought it over to the water and ice dispenser built into the fridge. He poured the glass half full and brought it over to his son.

Loki frowned at the glass like it was poison. “No, juice!”

“No, buddy. It’s late. You know it’s only water after bedtime,” Sam said firmly before kneeling and bringing the glass to the boy’s mouth.

Loki whined for a second, but then went to take the glass.

“No, this is a grown up cup, so Daddy’s gonna hold it. Just take a sip,” Sam said.

Loki let out a little huff, but opened his mouth to accept the water.

Sam let his son take a sip before putting the glass down on the table and looked around once more, hoping the other Loki would appear soon. He was getting antsy. His father and lover were getting into it and he wasn’t there. He had no idea what they were doing to each other. For all he knew, one would end up killing the other.

“Daddy, who’s that man?” Loki suddenly asked.

“Who? The man that was yelling?” Sam asked.

“No, the nice one. He’s like me,” Loki said.

Sam was taken aback by his son’s words. Somehow his son could tell that he and the other Loki were alike. He must somehow be able to sense the man’s powers were like his own.

Before Sam could figure out what to say in response to his son’s question, he saw Loki appear in front of him. He immediately stood up. “Where’s my dad?”

“He’s fine,” Gabriel assured him before walking over and kneeling in front of his son. “Hey, little one.”

“Hi!” Loki said brightly. 

Gabriel glanced over at Sam. “Can I hold him?” It was only right to ask permission. Yes, this child was his, but he didn’t put any work into raising him. Sam was the parent here. He was going to go by his rules.

Sam nodded. He was unsure of a lot with his lover, but he believed he could trust him with their son. He had intervened to protect them, even sending them away so Loki wasn’t traumatized.

Gabriel stood up and reached his arms out for the boy tentatively. He wasn’t sure his son would want him to pick him up. He was a stranger after all. But the kid reached his arms up instantly, so he picked him up and balanced him on his hip. “Hi. What’s your name?”

“Loki.”

Gabriel was shocked. Sam had named their son after him. Gabriel had left them and Sam had still honored him by giving their child his name. He felt like a real asshole for that. He also felt to touched to know that Sam had done this. He had every reason to hate him, but apparently he didn’t. “Hi, Loki. My name’s Gabriel. Well, Gabe for you.” Gabe would be easier for the toddler to say until Gabriel earned the right to be called something else.

Sam was surprised by the other man’s words. Gabriel? His real name was Gabriel? It shouldn’t really be surprising that he’d been given a phony name, but he’d wanted to believe that at least one think Loki… Gabriel told him wasn’t a lie.

“Gabe,” Loki tried out. 

“Yeah. Nice job,” Gabriel praised. “How are you doing? I know it was kind of scary back with that grumpy man.”

“He was mean,” Loki said.

“Yeah, he was really grumpy, huh? He was up way past his bedtime and just needed to be put to bed,” Gabriel said with a grin.

Loki giggled in response.

Sam let out a snort as well at hearing his father being spoken of like a child having a tantrum.

Loki let out a yawn after a minute. 

“It looks like it’s passed someone else’s bedtime too. You ready to go to bed?” Gabriel asked.

“No. Not tired,” Loki said immediately. 

“Come on, buddy, it’s late. You have to go back to sleep,” Sam said before taking Loki from Gabriel.

Gabriel used his free hand to snap his fingers, creating a place for his son to sleep in one of his spare rooms. “I’ll show you where you can put him down.”

Sam nodded and followed Gabriel straight through the kitchen and down the hall. They walked into a room two doors down on the right. There was a child sized bed against the far wall that had a child safety bar attached to the bed so he wouldn’t fall out. Sam could only guess that was what the finger snap was about. 

“Does he get scared of the dark?” Gabriel asked. 

“Not really. He only insists on a light if he has a nightmare,” Sam said before laying an already half asleep Loki on the bed and covering him up with the blacket. “Oh, I think he dropped his stuffed dog in the living room or something. That he’ll freak out about later if he doesn’t have it. I should…”

Before Sam could even finish, Gabriel had snapped his fingers and the stuffed animal appeared in his hand. He put it down next to his son and watched as the boy curled into it and shut his eyes. “He looks a lot like you.”

“I know,” Sam said with a smile.

“Come on, Sammy. I think we need to talk,” Gabriel said.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much a given,” Sam said with a slight edge in his voice. He was angry. It was surprising even to him. He hadn’t been angry before. He was hurt, but even after realizing he’d been lied to and pretty much used, he hadn’t let himself feel anger. Hell, he’d even gone after Dean whenever he disparaged his lover. 

Gabriel led the way back into the kitchen. “You want a drink?” he asked, snapping up a couple of beers before Sam could answer. 

“Don’t you think we should be sober for this conversation?” Sam asked.

“Eh, it won’t do anything to me. I can’t really get drunk, and one won’t do much to you either,” Gabriel said as he held one out for him.

Sam took the offered beer. “What really happened with my dad?”

“He’s fine, though he’ll be feeling our ‘conversation’ for a while,” Gabriel said before walking towards the living room.

Sam followed him. “What’d you do to him?”

“I only touched him when he came at me,” Gabriel said truthfully as he took a seat on the couch. He would’ve given Winchester a beating either way though for the way he spoke about Loki. He had it coming Sam. In fact, I could’ve done much worse.”

Sam nodded as he sat down on the the loveseat. He wasn’t really prepared to defend his father much after what he’d seen of his father. His dad hadn’t said or done much before Gabriel intervened, but he knew he would’ve. He saw that look and the way he approached them. And he was sure it was no better after Gabriel sent him and Loki away. “How’d you know where we were? Have you always known where we were?”

“No, Sam. I swear to you, I did not know,” Gabriel said firmly. He needed to make it clear that he did not know what Sam had gone through or about Loki. He was a lot of things, but he was not the kind of person to walk away after knocking someone up, not intentionally anyway. Although, he conceded that even just walking away from Sam the way he did wasn’t a whole lot better. “Your brother called for me tonight. He told me what was going on and I went looking for you.”

“Dean? I knew something was going on with him. How’d he find you?” Sam wondered.

“Not sure. I’m guessing he had help from the guy he was with, Bobby Singer,” Gabriel said.

“Dean went to Bobby? We haven’t seen Bobby since we were kids. Though if anyone could figure out what you were, it’s Bobby. What is that, by the way?” Sam asked. He was trying not to be judgemental, but there was some wariness in his voice. He didn’t want to think his lover was like the things he hunted, but he couldn’t say that he for sure wasn’t. He didn’t know him the way he thought he had. Everything he’d known about this man, even his name, had been a lie.

Gabriel sighed. “I’m different things to different beings. What your brother and friend deduced me to be is a Trickster. They were right, but at the same time they weren’t.”

“What does that mean? What is a Trickster?” Sam asked.

“Well, most are demigods. I, however, am considered an actual god. A pagan god,” Gabriel said.

“Wait, you mean you’re Loki from the legends. That’s real?” Sam asked surprised. 

“Some of it’s real. A lot isn’t. Anyway, what I do is play a bunch of awesome pranks on people that deserve it. Though I do need you to know now that a lot of them don’t survive my pranks,” Gabriel said. 

“You kill,” Sam said almost accusingly. 

“I kill those who deserve it. And, no, I don’t just mean people who are dicks. I’d obliterate three quarters of the population if I did that. I mean, cruel, remorseless monsters. I’ll give you an example. The last one I killed had slaughtered his entire family, including three kids. That’s after abusing them all for years. He was a piece of scum and a waist of human life,” Gabriel said firmly.

Sam shuddered at the idea of someone like that even existing. He couldn’t comprehend someone killing their family and making their lives such hell when they were alive. He couldn’t really blame Gabriel for killing him. If there was one less child killer on the loose was that really bad? “Okay, I get it. But you said you weren’t totally what Dean thought you were. What does that mean? That you’re a Pagan God instead of just a demigod?”

“No,” he said as he looked at Sam hesitantly. He’d never told anyone what he really was. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Sam with the information, but the less people who knew the better. He did not want his brothers ever finding out where he was, especially now.

“I have the right to know. We have a son. I need to know what he is,” Sam said with a slight glare. He refused to be kept in the dark about this. It wasn’t just Gabriel’s secret anymore. This involved their son. 

“You’re right, you have the right to know, but I ask you not to share this information with anyone, including your brother,” Gabriel said.

Sam was reluctant to agree to that, as Dean mattered a lot to him and they’d just dealt with him keeping secrets, but this was someone else’s secret. Gabriel deserved his privacy. “Okay.”

“You’ll find this hard to believe, Sam. For human’s, it’s kind of out there. I’m an angel,” Gabriel said. There was no way to really prepare someone for that revelation, so he just said it.

Sam was completely shocked. HE believed in angels and in God, but having faith that angels were real was a whole lot different than the guy you fell in love with telling you he was one. “You… You’re an angel?”

“An archangel. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Archangel, Gabriel?” he asked.

Sam nodded dumbly.

“I can offer you proof if you need it,” Gabriel said.

“Why?” Sam asked in a tone of disbelief. 

“Because I want you to know I’m telling you the truth,” Gabriel said slowly, confused at Sam’s confusion.

“No, I mean why did you bother with me? Why would an angel want to mess around with a human?” Sam asked. 

“You’re not just any human, Sammy. I liked you the second I saw you, though I never intended for it to go the way it did,” Gabriel said.

Sam shook his head. He couldn’t believe this. He’d dated an archangel, one of the most famous ones actually. He had no words for the shock he was in right now.

Gabriel decided that it might be best to end the conversation now. They had a lot to talk about and he still had much to answer for, but Sam was very overwhelmed right now. He wasn’t going to hear anything else until he processed this. “Listen, I think we should end this for tonight. We can talk again in the morning. I think you need time to deal with this much.

Sam nodded. He wasn’t even going to argue right now. 

“I want you to stay here tonight. I left your father at the motel room and I don’t want you guys near him. I’ve got another spare room you can use,” Gabriel said. Honestly, he really wanted Sam in his bed, even if he didn’t sleep, but he knew that that wouldn’t be an option tonight.

“I...I have to call Dean,” Sam said, regaining some kind of presence of mind to remember his brother. He couldn’t leave Dean to worry, and he would, especially when he found their dad in their room.

Gabriel nodded snapped his fingers. A cellphone appeared on the coffee table.

Sam picked up the phone and went to call his brother.


	11. Chapter 11

Dean made it back to the motel with Bobby in less than two hours. It really should’ve taken him two and a half to three, but he sped like a madman the whole way, worried to hell about his brother and nephew. That freaking trickster was with them right now and who knew what he could do to them?

Dean brought the car to an abrupt stop right outside his room.

“You through trying to kill me then?” Bobby grumbled. He understood the need to get to Sam, but Dean had gone almost a hundred the whole way. It wasn’t going to do Sam any good if they died trying to get to them. 

Dean didn’t answer. He just shut the car off and bolted towards the room. He was vaguely aware that Bobby was following him, but he didn’t wait for him. He burst into the room in a panic. “Sammy!”

Dean looked around and much to his surprise, he didn’t find his brother, but his father. His dad was laying on the ground a few feet away looking kind of beat up. “Dad!” he yelled before running to his side. The man’s face had taken a pretty big hit. There was some blood and definitely a lot of bruising. 

John groaned. “Help me to the bed.”

Bobby made his way over as well and the two of them pulled John up and got him to the nearest bed.

“Dad, what happened?” Dean asked. He assumed it had to be the Trickster. Sam had been known to throw a punch or two at their father in the past, but there was no way he could’ve done this.

“That damned thing your brother shacked up with!” John growled. He was unbelievably pissed that his son was stupid enough to let himself be seduced by a supernatural creature and then have his kid. “The bastard’s strong.”

“He’s a demigod. They tend to be,” Bobby said.

“A demigod?”

“A trickster,” Dean elaborated.

“Damn,” John cursed. He knew what a trickster was. He’d done research on just about anything he could in case he ever came across it. Tricksters were meant to very powerful.

“Where are Sam and Loki, Dad? Did you see them?” Dean asked. 

“Yeah. The Trickster sent them away,” John said.

“Dean, you should get your daddy some nice,” Bobby said. 

Dean nodded and headed to the small fridge.

“What happened with the Trickster?” Bobby asked. He got the feeling that John had done something to provoke the beating he was given because frankly, it was John. Plus, physical attacks weren’t a trickster’s MO. They preferred to strike with practical jokes. 

“It showed up when I was talking to Sam,” John said.

Dean came back over with the ice and a towel so his father could clean up a little.

“Talking to Sam?” Bobby asked with a raised eyebrow.

John wiped the blood off his face with the towel and then pressed the ice to his jaw. “Fine, we were fighting. I just found out my son had a kid with some kind inhuman piece of crap! How long have you known about that, Dean?”

“A few weeks,” Dean answered. 

“Yeah? and you didn’t call and tell me? What’s the matter with you?” John asked angrily.

“Sam didn’t want you to know,” Dean said simply.

“I don’t care! I have the right to know when my son is in trouble!” John yelled.

“First of all, he wasn’t in trouble. Second, this was not up to me to tell. This was about Sam’s son! He’s the only one with the right to tell you. He chose not to,” Dean said.

“Not in trouble? Your brother gave birth, Dean. Does that not tell you something right there?” John asked.

Bobby sucked in a breath. He knew where this was going and he guessed Sam did too. The kid knew what he was doing by keeping his daddy in the dark. He was protecting his kid.

“Yeah, okay, it’s weird, but there were apparently no lasting effects. Sam’s fine,” Dean said.

“Until that thing does something to him,” John said. How could his son not see the problem here. Sam had brought something into the world that wasn’t human. It was a danger to him and everyone else.

“Yeah, I know. It’s my fault for summoning the Trickster. Look we’ll find them,” Dean said.

“He’s not talking about the Trickster,” Bobby said while glaring at John.

Dean looked at his father. “You’re not talking about Loki.”

“It’s not human, Dean. You know that means he’s evil!” John yelled.

“He is not evil! He’s a little boy! Your freaking grandson! How can you talk about him like that?!” Dean yelled. He’d never believed his father would react like this. Sam had been afraid of it, but Dean had tried to assure him he was wrong. His father might not like anything supernatural, but surely he wouldn’t condemn his own grandson, yet he was. He even spoke of Loki like he wasn’t a person. “Watch your tone! You don’t talk to me like that! It’s not a kid. It’s not a person at all. It has to be stopped.”

“It’s that black and white for you, huh, Johnny. It might have escaped your attention, but if the kid came from Sam, he’s also part human, and regardless, you don’t know anything about him or what else he might be,” Bobby said. He wasn’t like many other hunters. He had no problem killing evil things, but he didn’t make a habit of going after something for the simple fact that it wasn’t human. 

“I know it’s part of an evil damn trickster!”

“Stop calling him ‘it! He’s a child, an incredible child! You know how I found out he wasn’t human? I just came back from a nasty hunt with a spirit and he healed me. He’s never hurt anyone. He is a sweet little boy, just like Sam was,” Dean said.

“Did you attack the boy? Is that why you got your ass handed to you?” Bobby asked. If that was what happened, he wouldn’t even be able to fault the Trickster for beating on John. In fact, he showed incredible restraint if that was the case. 

“I didn’t touch him,” John said.

“You were going to though, weren’t you. You better get your damn head out of your ass or you’re going to lose your boy forever. I know Sam well enough to know that if it comes down to you or that kid, you will lose,” Bobby informed him.

Before anyone could say anything else, Dean’s phone rang. 

“Answer your damn phone, Dean. That thing’s been going off for the last hour,” Bobby grumbled. The phone had rang several times when they were in the car. Dean had ignored it, after making sure it wasn’t Sam’s number, because he was focused on getting back as fast as possible.

Dean huffed as he dug the phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open and pressed it to his ear. “This better be freaking important.”

“Dean,” came Sam’s voice.

“Sam! Where are you? Has that asshole done anything to you guys?” Dean asked.

“No, we’re fine. But we’re gonna be staying here tonight,” Sam said.

“What? Like hell, man!” Dean exclaimed. There was no way in hell he was leaving his brother and nephew with the Trickster, especially when he knew Sam didn’t think so clearly when it came to his baby daddy.

“Dean, I told you, we’re fine. It’s better for us to stay here tonight. I don’t want Dad near Loki, or me for that matter,” Sam said.

“You’re not staying there. Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you,” Dean said. 

“Give me the phone, Dean,” John demanded. No way was he allowing his son to shack up with a trickster for a second time. He was sickened just at the thought of it.

“Screw you!” Dean told his father scathingly

Meanwhile, there was a shuffle at the other end of the phone line and Dean soon heard the Trickster’s voice. “Hey, buddy. We’re in New Zealand. Good luck with the commute. 

There was another shuffle with the phone and Dean was back. “Dean?”

“Is he freaking serious?” Dean asked his brother in disbelief.

“I’m honestly not sure. Look, we have some things to work out. I’ll be fine. I’ll be back when I can. But, Dean, make sure Dad’s gone when I come back,” Sam requested. Well, it was more of an order. 

“Sam…”

“Seriously, it’ll be okay. I’ll call you tomorrow,” Sam said before cutting off the call.


	12. Chapter 12

Sam woke up in unfamiliar surroundings, though that was quickly explained within seconds as he remembered. He was with Loki. No, Gabriel. He was staying with the Archangel, Gabriel. That was still shocking and freaky when he thought about it. He’d fallen in love with an archangel. Not that that fact bothered him. Gabriel was one of the good guys, though in his heart, Sam had always known that fact. He always wanted to believe that the man he loved wasn’t like the evil things his family hunted. So, no, falling for an archangel didn’t bother him. It was just really shocking to know he’d been that close with one of the most holy beings that ever existed. 

Sam sat up in bed and looked around the room. He was too tired and shocked to really care about where he was sleeping last night, but it was a nice room. It went along with the rest of the apartment. The bed he was in was a very comfortable king sized bed. Next to him was an end table with an alarm clock on it. Against the wall on the right was a large dresser with a vanity attached and across from the bed was what looked to be a walk-in closet.

Sam looked at the clock next to him. It was almost nine. Loki would be up soon. Actually, he would usually already be up and waking Sam. Sam could only guess that his son’s interrupted sleep pattern kept him asleep this late. Still, he should probably check on him.

Sam got out of bed and headed for the door. He could hear his son’s giggle coming from the kitchen. Apparently Loki was already awake. Gabriel must have gotten up with him. Well, if Gabriel ever went to sleep. He wasn’t sure he ever slept. When Sam thought about it, he’d never actually seen him sleep. 

Sam turned the corner into the kitchen and found Gabriel and Loki sitting at the kitchen table playing with some toy cars. Loki was in a booster seat so he could reach the table. 

Gabriel started moving the toy car in his hand towards Loki’s hand. “Watch out. I’m gonna run you over.”

Loki giggled as the toy car gently hit his hand. Then he looked over and saw his daddy. “Daddy.”

“Morning, buddy,” Sam said as he walked over to them. He sat down on the other side of their son. 

“Hey. you sleep alright?” Gabriel asked. 

“Yeah, great. The bed was really comfortable,” Sam said.

“I wanna eat now,” Loki said.

Gabriel laughed. “I told him we had to wait for you to get up and then I’d make my french toast.”

Sam perked up at that. He wasn’t usually big on sugary breakfasts like pancakes or french toast, but he loved Gabriel’s french toast. He did something to it that just made it amazing, “Your french toast. Awesome!”

Gabriel chuckled and got up to start cooking. 

Loki grabbed the toy car Gabriel had put down and held it out for his father. “Daddy, play. 

Sam took the toy and started playing with his little boy. This went on until Gabriel came over with two plates of food. 

“Here we go,” Gabriel said before walking over with two plates of food. He put one in front of Sam and the other in front of Loki. Loki’s was all cut up and accompanied by a child sized fork. Gabriel then snapped his fingers and a green sippy cup filled with orange juice also appeared in front of the boy.

Loki smiled in delight before reaching for the drink. 

Gabriel snapped his fingers again, making his plate, plus two cups of coffee for him and Sam appear on the table. He decided to cheat instead of making another unnecessary trip.

“Thanks,” Sam said before immediately digging into his breakfast. He moaned as his former boyfriend’s famous french toast hit his tongue. “As always, this is freaking amazing. You’re still not gonna tell me how you make it, are you?” Sam asked.

“Nope!” Gabriel said in a chipper tone as he sat down.

Loki, who had just taken his first bite started bouncing up and down. “Yummy!”

“You like it? What do you say to Gabe for making it for you?” Sam asked.

“Thank you,” Loki said.

“Your welcome, little one,” Gabriel said as he smiled at his son. He really couldn’t believe he had a son. And he already loved him. He barely knew him, but he loved this little boy more than anything, with Sam being a very close second. He wouldn’t be separated from either again and he wouldn’t let anyone harm them. Michael and Lucifer could both get bent as far he was concerned. They were not getting their way. 

Sam went on eating, occasionally glancing over at Gabriel and his son. He’d dreamed of this, sitting around the breakfast table with the man he loved and their son, like a family. Of course, Sam knew that wasn’t what this was. They weren’t a family. Gabriel didn’t want that. That was kind of clear by him leaving years ago. Plus, he was an archangel. Why would he want to spend his life with a human? Maybe Gabriel would want Loki, but Sam knew he wouldn’t want him.

The three of them ate pretty quietly and then Gabriel snapped the dirty dishes away to the sink. He then turned to his son. “Hey, Loki, you wanna go watch cartoons in my bedroom?”

“Yeah!” the little boy exclaimed. 

“I’ll be right back,” Gabriel told Sam before standing up and helping Loki down to the floor. Then he took his hand and led him down the hall. 

Sam sighed and shifted nervously. He knew what Gabriel was doing. He wanted to get Loki out of the room so they could talk. There was a whole lot more that needed to be discussed.

Gabriel came out about five minutes later. “He’s good. His face is glued to the TV. Don’t worry, I’ll hear if he makes the slightest noise.”

Sam nodded.

Gabriel retook his spot at the table. “How are you doing with what I told you last night.”

Sam shrugged. “Okay. It’s really shocking, but I’m starting to get used to it. But why are you down here? Shouldn’t you be in Heaven or something?”

“Yeah, I should, but I left a long time ago. Heaven isn’t the perfect bliss you’re probably thinking of it as, not for angels anyway. It is for souls that have moved on. For me and my brothers, it wasn’t. A lot of fighting went on, especially between two of my brothers. I hated the fighting. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I took off,” Gabriel explained. 

Sam nodded. He understood. Well, sort of. He was usually participating in the fighting with his family. Dean was actually the one usually caught in the middle. But Sam certainly understood the fighting aspect itself. Even when you were a willing participant, it wasn’t fun. It seemed angel families weren’t any different.

“Look, I know the idea of being in the presence of angels is hard to absorb,” Gabriel said.

“Well, the knowledge is shocking, but I wouldn’t say being around you is hard to absorb. I don’t really see you much different than I did yesterday. I guess I should,” Sam said. He was in the presence of an archangel, but he wasn’t intimidated by that fact. It was shocking to think that he’d been with one and was currently sitting with one now, but not to the point that it would be if Gabriel was a stranger to him.

“Actually, I’m glad you don’t. I’d prefer you see me as you always have,” Gabriel said.

“So what does all this mean for Loki?” Sam asked. Now that some of the shock was gone, that was a question he really needed the answer to. He needed to know what to expect from his son. 

“Half angel/half human children are considered nephilim. They are extremely rare, partially because most angels wouldn’t go there with a human and partly because they’re not supposed to exist. Dad forbid them a couple millenias ago because some of them did some real damage to the world,” Gabriel explained.

Sam’s eyes went wide with fear. His son wasn’t supposed to exist? Did that mean he was in danger? Would angels come after him? How was he supposed to protect his son from angels.”

“Calm down, Sam. I’m not going to let anyone hurt Loki. The nephilim that were destroyed all those years ago was because they proved themselves to be dangerous. Angels were mating with humans and leaving. Those humans had no way of teaching their children what they would be and how to use their gifts in a positive way. Without anyone to help them, they lost their way. It was too late by the time we got there,” Gabriel told him.

“They just left them? They didn’t care about their kids?” Sam asked in disbelief. 

“Angels can be dicks. They don’t really care about humans and as such wouldn’t care about what they created with a human. So, yeah, they left without a care in the world,” Gabriel said.

“Like you,” Sam couldn’t help but bite out. He couldn’t help but be angry now that he was sitting and actually having this conversation with Gabriel. He got that Gabriel didn’t want him, but the least he could’ve done was tell him that before he left instead of just taking off. He could’ve done something other than treat him like he was just another human. And he could’ve given Sam a way to contact him in case something like this happened.

Gabriel sighed. Oh, yeah, he definitely had that coming. He hated himself for leaving Sam alone to have a child on his own, especially knowing that it wasn’t exactly a normal situation. “Sam, I am so sorry about that. I swear to my father, I didn’t know.”

“That’s what I’ve told myself. I’m glad at least that was true. But I needed you. I was freaked out. I mean, I was a guy and I was pregnant. That was a freaking red flag that you weren’t normal and neither was our child. I came close to calling my dad a couple of times,” Sam said. He was extremely happy he didn’t make that call. God only knew what he would’ve done. His son would probably be dead right now and that wasn’t something he even wanted to contemplate.

“I’m sorry. It never crossed my mind that it would happen. It should’ve. I should’ve been here,” Gabriel said. This was on him and he knew it. He knew that things could turn out this way, no matter how rare it was, and he should’ve done something. He should’ve at the very least kept an eye on Sam. Then he would’ve found out and he could’ve come back to help him. “I know it doesn’t make it okay, but I came to you the second I found out.”

Sam nodded. “You wanted to see Loki.”

“I wanted to see both of you,” Gabriel emphasized. 

“You don’t have to say that. I get that I was just a stupid human to you. All you had to do was tell me that,” Sam said. 

Gabriel’s eyes darkened and filled with anger as he heard those words. The anger was himself for the most part though. He’d caused Sam to think that he was unwanted. “Don’t ever say that again. I never saw you as ‘just’ anything! Y:ou were not just some piece of ass for the night. Maybe you were supposed to be, but you weren’t.

“You left,” Sam said as though it explained everything, which to him, it did. Gabriel wouldn’t have left if Sam meant anything to him.

“I know. I’m really sorry about that. But it wasn’t about you,” Gabriel swore.

Sam snorted. “Am I really getting the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ speech?

“No, it wasn’t me either. It’s my asshole brothers!” Gabriel growled.

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked confused. He didn’t know what other angels had to do with this. Did they somehow force Gabriel to leave?

Gabriel sighed. He really didn’t want to have this conversation with Sam. He didn’t want to put all that on him. He was already asking him to swallow a lot. But Sam deserved the whole truth. Besides, letting him know the truth could only help them stop it.. “This is gonna be tough to swallow, Sammy. We’re talking really heavy and farfetched stuff.”

“I’ve done farfetched my whole life,” Sam said.

“Yeah, well, this is a bit above even that. How familiar are you with the bible?” Gabriel asked.

“Familiar enough. I mean, I’m no expert, but I’d say I know as much as anyone else,” Sam said.

“So you’re familiar with the story of Lucifer and how he was cast into hell by the Archangel, Michael?” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah, though I’d guess I don’t know the full story,” Sam said. 

“No, you don’t, and I’ll spare you that story. It’s not really the point anyway. There was a final plan put into place for much later, where Lucifer would be released and he and Michael would fight to the death, taking many, if not all, of humanity down in their wake,” Gabriel said. 

Sam looked at Gabriel with a horrified expression on his face. “They’re gonna kill everyone?”

Gabriel nodded. “Archangel’s fighting is a pretty big deal. A lot of destruction will be left in their wake. But it Michael wins, paradise will be created on Earth. A lot of angels want this. Michael is lobbying for it to happen, and well, of course Lucifer is too.”

“Wow. Okay, yeah, this really freaking serious and needs to be stopped, but what does it have to do with you leaving?” Sam asked. He was trying to squash down the shock and horror of the possibility of the end of the world for a minute and deal with the present and what was going to happen with his life.

Gabriel laughed. “I wish I was done, Sammy. It’s much more complicated and you and your brother have key roles. You guys have been pawns in my brothers’ games since before you were even born. Your births were organized, so was the destruction of your family.”

“M...My mother’s death?” Sam asked in disbelief.

Gabriel nodded. “Demons put that in motion. It wasn’t exactly your mother’s death. She was just a casualty. It was you they were there for.”

Sam’s eyes suddenly cast down to his lap. He’d always suspected that it was his fault, as his mother was murdered in his nursery, but now there was proof.

“Don’t even think of blaming yourself, Sam. I know that’s what you’re doing! Cut it out!” Gabriel said firmly. “Your mother was killed by demons. It was not your fault. The demon did something to you that night to prepare you.”

“What did he do?” Sam asked. 

“He bled in your mouth,” Gabriel said somewhat reluctantly. He knew very well that it would be taken badly.

Sam’s eyes were as big as saucers. “What?! What the hell does that mean? What did he do? Did he make me evil?!”

“No! You are not evil! I can literally see the good in you Sam. There is no good in an evil being. Did it make you more susceptible to darkness, yeah, but it certainly doesn’t mean you have to go down that road. It also gave you some abilities that I’m sure you’ve noticed by now,” Gabriel said.

Sam nodded and thought about the visions he’d been having. At least he knew for sure what caused them now. The demon, apparently it was a demon, gave them to him after feeding him blood. That was freaking him out. Some demon poured blood in his mouth. That thought was sickening. “What does this mean? What’s going to happen?”

“I’m just gonna say it. Demons and angels want you to eventually release Lucifer from his cage,” Gabriel said.

Sam gasped and shook his head. “No. I’d never do that.”

“Oh, I know you wouldn’t intentionally. They’re not planning on being honest about it. They will try to manipulate you to make it happen. My brothers are masters at that. And given that the only thing they’d have to get you to do is kill a specific demon, it might’ve worked,” Gabriel said. It wouldn’t work now. He would never allow it to happen. The demon Azazel was done the second Gabriel could get his hands on him. That would at least be the beginning to stopping it.

“That’s it? Killing one demon destroys everything?” Sam asked in disbelief. Something so awful shouldn’t be so damned easy. 

“No. Other things have to happen too, but that’s your part in it,” Gabriel said. He decided to omit the vessel thing at least for right now. Sam was already freaked out. Adding the rest would send him over the edge.

“I don’t understand. What does it have to do with you leaving. Could you not stand to be around me knowing what I might do?” Sam asked.

“No, I told you, this is not your fault It had nothing to do with being disgusted with you. It’s quite the opposite actually,” Gabriel said.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked

Gabriel sighed. He’d never been that great about expressing his emotions, but if he wanted Sam to be his again, he was going to have to do his best. “I was scared, Sam. The relationship took a turn that I didn’t expect. You weren’t just a one nighter for me like you were supposed to be. I fell for you hard and I recognized that. I left because I didn’t want to get too close. I knew that this fight that would go down with Michael and Lucifer would end up destroying you. I didn’t know how to stop it, so I decided to get out before I was too invested. The truth is though, it was too late for that.

Sam abruptly stood up. He couldn’t do this anymore. He had to get away from this conversation. “I...I think I’ve had enough.”

“Sammy…”

“No! I’m done. I need to see Loki,” Sam said before bolting from the room.


	13. Chapter 13

Dean was leaned against the Impala with a cup of coffee in his hand. He’d had a rough knife. He hadn’t gotten much sleep due to worry over Sam and Loki. His brother and nephew were in the hands of a trickster. Worse was that Sam wouldn’t even be able to appreciate the danger. This thing had sunk its claws into him and now he was hooked

Just then, Bobby came out of a room a few doors down. There was no way he was leaving until this thing with Sam was settled, so he got his own room.

“Hey, Bobby,” Dean said as the older man approached him. 

“Hey. How’s your daddy?” Bobby asked.

“Well, he spent most of the night grumbling, so he can’t be too hurt,” Dean said. Actually, his father was why he was standing outside instead of being inside. He had to get away from him. Normally, he could handle his father no matter his moods, but after last night, he had very little patience for him. All he kept thinking about was the terrible way his dad talked about Loki. He couldn’t even treat him like a human being.

“Yeah, sounds like, Johnny. Any word on Sam?” Bobby asked.

Dean shook his head. “I’m worried about him, Bobby. We don’t know what this thing wants with him. It could do anything to him. I don’t even think Sam will fight back. He’s freaking in love with him.”

“Which means summoning it was a stupid idea,” Bobby grumbled. It wasn’t just Dean responsible for that though. He was kicking himself for going along with it as well. He should’ve turned him down and smacked some sense into the boy. 

“I know, Bobby. I screwed up. I was just trying to get some answers for Sam. That’s why I made sure Sam wasn’t there. I was hoping to get those answers without the SOB getting his claws into Sam again,” Dean said.

“Hey, I helped, didn’t I? We were both idjits. Have you tried calling Sam?” Bobby asked.

“Several times. I called the same number he called me from. I haven’t gotten an answer. The Trickster’s probably hiding my calls from him. That or he won’t let him answer,” Dean said with a growl. 

Just then, the door to Dean’s room opened and John soon appeared in the doorway. “Dean, get in here!”

Dean sighed and headed for his room. Bobby followed behind him.

“Get your brother on the phone. I want his ass back here,” John said gruffly when Dean got close.

“I’ve tried. No one’s picking up,” Dean said as he walked in. 

“Well, do it again,” John ordered as he turned around and followed his son.

Bobby walked in and shut the door. “John, how about you cut the crap? There’s a trickster involved. It’s not as simple as you seem to want to make it.”

John glared at him. “I know there’s a trickster involved, and his offspring. That’s why I want Sam back here!”

Dean had to suppress the urge to punch his father for the disgusted way he spoke of Loki. Why couldn’t he just get over this? No, Loki wasn’t completely human, but he was still his grandson. He was still a part of Sam.

“You think talk like that is gonna make Sam wanna come back? That is his kid! He’s not gonna want you anywhere near either of them if you keep this up,” Bobby warned. 

“He already doesn’t. He told me to get rid of you before he got back,” Dean added.

“I really don’t care what he said. I’m not going anywhere until I bring him back to reality. I can’t believe the idiot really willingly stayed with a trickster all night. Then again, he’s raising his devil spawn. You know, maybe the kid has some kind of control over him,” John speculated. That would also explain why Dean was acting so irrational and accepted this supernatural child so easily.

“I swear to God, Dad, one more word and I’ll continue what the trickster started!” Dean growled.

“Alright, let’s get back to the problem. Dean, your daddy may be an ass, but he’s right about needing to find Sam and get him back here,” Bobby said. They really didn’t know anything about this guy who had Sam and his son except that he was a trickster. Tricksters were dangerous and very crafty. He could do anything. He’d already gotten Sam to fall for him. Who even knew what his agenda was for that.

“I know, but there’s not much I can do about it, especially if the Trickster was telling the truth and they left the damned country. I’m not getting on a plane, Bobby. I just won’t do it!” Dean said. Well, actually he probably would do it for Sam and Loki if he thought it would definitely get them back, but he would hate it and he’d make Sam pay for it later.

“Are you afraid of flying?” Bobby asked. He’d known Dean most of his life and he never knew he was afraid of flying. Then again, it never would’ve come up. The hunting life usually involved driving, not flying.

“That’s not important. The important thing is we have no way of getting to Sam. Not to mention we have no way of actually stopping the Trickster right now even if we could get to them,” Dean grumbled.

“Tricksters can be killed,” John said.

“Yeah, by a stake dipped in the blood of their victims. You know who this dude’s killed lately?” Dean asked in a biting tone.

“Okay, quit with the attitude! I’ve put up with it more than long enough!” John said angrily.

“He’s right though. It isn’t so easy to kill a trickster. Even if we got what was necessary to kill him, he’s still very powerful and smart. It won’t be simple,” Bobby said.

“That’s not the only problem. Sam’s in love with him. I’m not sure he’ll forgive us if we kill him,” Dean said.

“Let me ask you something, Dean. Did you know your brother was gay?” John asked. He didn’t even know how he felt about that. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of his son being into guys. But he had much bigger grievances with his son, so he chose not to think about it too much. 

“Not until a few weeks ago,” Dean said. Then he glared at his father, daring him to say something else about Sam being gay. He was already prepared to slug him for the way he was reacting about Loki. One word about Sam’s sexual orientation and he’d lose it. 

“Well, I don’t care how he thinks he feels about this thing. We’re destroying it,” John said firmly.

A loud laugh filled the room. “Well, we’ll see how that plan works out for you.”

All three of them turned to see the Trickster leaned against the wall behind the beds with a smirk on his face.


	14. Chapter 14

Gabriel smirked at the three men from his place against the wall. He’d decided it might be a good idea to deal with Sam’s family without his presence or knowledge of it before hand. He planned to make sure these men knew in no uncertain terms how things were going to be. “Hey, guys. Sorry to just appear like this. Well, actually, I’m not.”

“Where’s Sam?” Dean demanded to know. 

“In my bed,” Gabriel said, his smirk widening. It was actually true. Sam was currently in his bedroom with Loki trying to recover from everything he’d learned.

John let out a disgusted noise in response.

Dean, however, refused to take the Trickster’s bait. “Bring him and my nephew back.”

Gabriel let out a fake wince. “Sorry, I can’t do that right now,” he said before walking over to the small table on the other side of the room and sitting down in one of the chairs. “Now, how about we just sit down and have a civilized conversation.”

“Screw you! Bring my brother and nephew back or I’ll kill your ass!” Dean said angrily. He wasn’t sure how he was going to kill him, but he swore he would if the Trickster didn’t bring Sam back, no matter how much Sam might hate him for it.

“You know, Dean, that’s kind of the opposite of civilized. Come on, I’ve got nothing against you. In fact, I’m grateful to you. You’re the reason I was reunited with Sam and got to meet my son,” Gabriel said, still smirking and purposely pointing out Dean’s role in reuniting him with his family. 

Dean winced as he was reminded that this was all his fault. He should’ve left well enough alone. He’d wanted to get answers for Sam and Loki, but by trying to get them, he’d placed them at risk and let the Trickster get his hands on them.

“You gave me back what’s mine. I’m really grateful for that,” Gabriel said.

“My son is not yours!” John growled. He really wanted to kill this SOB, but he had the presence of mind, at least for now, to remember what happened the last time he tried to go after him.

“Oh, I beg to differ, Johnny. He’s all mine. And you wanna know what the best part is? He wants to be,” Gabriel said. Sam hadn’t actually said that since they were reunited, but Gabriel knew Sam loved him, and judging from how hurt Sam was by him, he also knew Sam still loved him. That made him all that more determined to get him back.

“You did something to him? What kind of magic did you use to screw with my boy’s head?” John demanded to know. 

Gabriel laughed loudly. “I’ve never needed to trick anyone into my bed. He wanted to be with me.”

“Maybe he wanted you. The question is what the hell do you want from him? What are you after?” Bobby asked as he eyed the small trickster suspiciously.

“I told you, I want what’s mine. He’s mine,” Gabriel said simply.

“The hell he is!” Dean yelled. He was not about to let this asshole stake claim to his brother. He did not own Sam and he wouldn’t treat him like he did.

Gabriel sighed dramatically. “Now, Dean, I didn’t say I wouldn’t share. I might be willing to allow you to borrow what’s mine from time to time, so long as you agree to a few things.”

“What?” Dean asked in disbelief. Was the Trickster really trying to impose rules for him to see his brother? Who the hell did he think he was?

“You heard me right, pal. I have conditions. The biggest one is…” Gabriel trailed off as he eyed John. “He has to go.”

“Excuse me?” John asked as he took a step forward, getting ready to attack.

Bobby stood in front of John, knowing exactly how it would go if he attacked the Trickster. There was a reason he and Dean hadn’t attack this guy, despite wanting to. They couldn’t take on the Trickster right now. Not only did they have no weapons that would actually hurt him, but he had Sam and his kid. The Trickster had the cards right now.

“You heard me, Winchester. You’re not welcome. You won’t be allowed within a mile of Sam or our son,” Gabriel said firmly. His tone had changed from slightly amused to completely serious.

“You can’t keep me from my son!” John yelled.

“Sam’s not your son anymore. Remember? You kicked him out of your family. You don’t get to just do that and then come back into his life whenever it suits you,” Gabriel said. Okay, yes, he probably sounded hypocritical since he walked out of Sam’s life once too, but frankly, he didn’t really care. He had his reasons. They didn’t make it right, but they were far better than John trying to punish his son for choosing a different life for himself. Besides, disowning him was not John’s only crime against Sam. He’d been a dick to both his kids their whole life in one way or another. 

John made a move to lunge at him, but Bobby and Dean both grabbed him by the arms to stop him.

“John, knock it off! He already handed you your ass once. You really wanna go for round two, especially when you’re still recovering?” Bobby asked.

Gabriel stood up and took a couple of steps towards the trio. “Come on, Johnny, you can’t really think you’re losing much, can you? You never really cared about Sam. You treated him like he was nothing more than an outsider in your family. He was never good enough for you. So what do you care if he’s gone? It’s what you wanted.”

“You can’t do this!” Dean said with a glare.

Gabriel nodded at Dean. “Yes, I can. I am going to protect what’s mine because that is what a good boyfriend and father does. I understand why you might not know that because you never had a decent father.”

John made another move to attack the Trickster, but his son and old friend continued to hold him back. Maybe if he wasn’t still hurt he could get passed them, but he was still weak.

“You’re another matter though, Dean. For the most part, you’ve been a good brother. Of course, you have your flaws in that area. Most of those seem to step from the undeserved loyalty you have for this piece of garbage right here. You’ve always wanted to make him proud, so you always choose him. You remind me of my brother,” Gabriel said. It wasn’t hard to understand why Dean was Michael’s vessel. They were so damned alike. He just hoped Dean was better than Michael, the same way Sam was better than Lucifer.

“What the hell gives you the right to judge us?” Dean asked. He was pissed enough at his father for the way he kept referring to Loki, but the Trickster had no right to judge any of them, especially for the past that he was no part of.

“I don’t know. Maybe listening to your brother’s pain after the two of you left him alone. You may not have wanted to, but you abandoned your brother too,” Gabriel said. Sam had told him all about how it ended, including that Dean made no attempt to contact him after he left. Gabriel was willing to cut the kid a little slack because he understood that it was hard to disappoint your father, but Dean didn’t get off completely for leaving Sam behind.

“He’s the one who left! Not that any of it’s your business,” John said in disdain as he tried to shrug Dean and Bobby off of him. “Let me go! I’m fine!”

“Fine, but you’re on your own if you do something stupid,” Bobby said before letting go.

Dean reluctantly did the same. 

Gabriel ignored John. He’d said all he needed to the man and now he was done with him. He was on Dean now. “Dean, you’ve spent most of your life torn between your father and your brother. I know that sucked and what you have to do now will too. You gotta make a choice.”

“You can’t do this,” Dean said.

“Believe it or not, I don’t take pleasure in making you do this. I know what it’s like to have to choose between two people you love. But my priority is Sam and Loki. Your father’s a danger to them, so he’s done. I won’t have him near them and I won’t have you attempting to guilt Sam into forgiving him. You have to make a choice,” Gabriel said firmly.

“And Sam doesn’t get any say in this, huh? He doesn’t to decide who’s in his life?” Bobby asked with a glare. He grudgingly agreed with a lot of what the Trickster said, but he didn’t like the possessive way the bastard spoke of his boy and how he seemed to think he was entitled to make decisions for him.

Gabriel shrugged. “Sam doesn’t need to be put in the positon to make this decision, though I know he would to protect Loki. I, however, don’t care about any of you, so I’m good with it. Anyway, I think I’ve made my point, so I’ll give you all some time,” Gabriel said before disappearing.


	15. Chapter 15

Dean stormed out of his motel room with Bobby trailing behind him. He was extremely pissed. Who the hell did that trickster think he was trying to keep his brother from him like he was some kind of toy they were fighting over. He had no right to dictate Sam’s life.

“Dean, wait,” Bobby said as he followed him. 

“No. I’m heading to the library. I’m gonna find the Trickster’s last victim and get his blood,” Dean said. 

“I’m not sure it’s gonna be that easy,” Bobby said. That Trickster had been way too confident. He knew that they knew how to kill him, but he didn’t seem at all worried about it. It was possible it was just ego, but Bobby got the feeling that it was something more.

“I don’t care! I’ll do whatever it takes to save Sam and Loki from him,” Dean said firmly.

“One thing, Dean. Your brother doesn’t seem to want to be saved from him. You said it yourself, he’s in love with him,” Bobby said.

“Yeah, well, I don’t have a choice. This dude basically kidnapped Sam and he won’t bring him back. He’s treating my brother like property, acting like he has the right to keep him from his family and force me to choose between him and Dad!” Dean ranted.

“That’s what’s pissing you off right now. It’s not that he’s a trickster or that he sees Sam as his, it’s that he’s making you choose,” Bobby said. He didn’t like the Trickster either and he hated the way he thought he could make decisions for Sam, but he couldn’t really find anything untrue about what the Trickster said.

“What are you saying, Bobby?” Dean asked suspiciously.

“Look, he was an ass, but nothing he said about your daddy was wrong,” Bobby said.

“Okay, my dad’s being a dick about Loki, but that doesn’t mean…”

“It’s not just the kid. That’s just what will be the final straw for your brother. Your father has been a dick since I met him. He’s been terrible to both you boys, especially Sam,” Bobby said. He never had this conversation with Dean, partly because Dean was a teenager when he last saw him, but also because he knew Dean was too loyal to his father. However, this conversation had to happen now because Trickster or no Trickster, Dean was going to have to make a choice or he’d lose his brother. Sam was not gonna put up with the way John treated his Son. Bobby might not know Sam as a father, but knew the boy enough to know that it would be unacceptable to him. 

“Come on. Yeah, Dad and Sam would fight a lot, but that doesn’t make my dad a bad person,” Dean said.

“No, but kicking him out of the family certainly does. So does comparing him to you his whole life. What do you think that did to your brother?” Bobby asked. He knew for a fact that that was the reason Sam had such low self-esteem. Sam always second guessed himself. He was always insecure.

“Dad did the best he could with us! He was trying to protect us!” Dean protested. 

“Yeah, maybe, but his hatred of the supernatural made him a cold bastard. He was better you, though not by much, because you liked the hunting life. Sam didn’t want that life and he was pushed away or cut down because of it. It was borderline abusive,” Bobby said.

“Are you freaking serious, Bobby? You agree with the Trickster?” Dean asked in disbelief. He had not expected to hear this from Bobby. He knew the old man had his issues with his father, but he never thought it was this bad. He never thought he’d take the Trickster’s side.

“Dean serious. Look, I don’t exactly trust the Trickster or like how he talks about Sam, but he’s trying to do what I’ve always wanted to. Get you and your brother away from your daddy. Dean, I know you wanna kill the Trickster. You’re hoping that that will somehow make this all go away, but it won’t. One way or another, you’re gonna have to choose,” Bobby told him.

Dean looked at him for a minute before huffing and stormed away towards his car. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Sam woke up a bed next to Loki, who was still sound asleep. He wasn’t surprised his son had fallen asleep before his nap time. His sleep pattern had been disrupted last night, so it made sense that he was still tired. 

Sam carefully got up so he wouldn’t disturb his son and headed for the door. He walked out of the room, through the kitchen and dining room, and went into the living room. He found Gabriel sitting on the couch watching something on TV.

Gabriel muted the TV as soon as he saw Sam. “Hey, kiddo. How you doing?”

“I don’t know,” Sam said quietly before sitting down on the loveseat. He was still kind of overwhelmed by everything Gabriel told him and he wasn’t sure he understood why Gabriel left him, or why he got involved with him in the first place.

“I know I put a lot on you. I’m sorry, but I wanted you to know the truth,” Gabriel said. 

“Yeah. It’s kind of freaky to know you’re going to release the devil on the world,” Sam said with a shudder. 

“That’s not gonna happen. I promise you, I won’t let it,” Gabriel vowed.

“How can you stop it when all other angels want it to?” Sam asked.

“I will stop it. That’s all that matters. I love you, Sammy. I’m not gonna let my brothers hurt you like that.”

Sam felt tears well up in his eyes when Gabriel professed his love for him. “I don’t know if I can believe you when you say you love me.”

“I mean it, Sam. I understand why you have trouble believing it, but I do,” Gabriel swore. 

“You left me. You only came back after hearing about Loki,” Sam said. He couldn’t help but notice that it took Loki to bring Gabriel back. It made him think that it was really Loki Gabriel wanted and only felt obligated to Sam. 

“Yeah, I know the timing is a bit coincidental. I’ll admit that finding out Loki existed is why I made the decision to come back, but he was just the final push. I think I would’ve come back anyway. I thought about you all the time. Every day, I thought about coming to you. I was scared to. I was afraid to lose you and to go against my brothers,” Gabriel said.

“You’re afraid of them?” Sam asked.

“Well, slightly. Michael is far more powerful than me, but I was more worried about what it would mean. It would mean that you meant more than they did. And while it’s true, it’s a scary thought. I never thought anyone could mean that much to me,” Gabriel said. 

“But finding out about Loki changed that?”

“It sped up the process. Fear had no place if I was a father. I needed to be strong for you guys. I love you, Sam. It’s not about Loki. I would love you regardless,” Gabriel swore. 

“I want to believe you, but I don’t know if I can, and I don’t know if I can just get over all the lies either,” Sam said honestly. Mostly he was afraid that Gabriel didn’t really love him. That it really was about Loki and that they’d fail. He couldn’t handle that. He couldn’t get back with Gabriel and then lose him again. 

“I’m willing to give you as much time as you need, but I plan to win you back, Sammy,” Gabriel said firmly.

“I need to get back to the motel. I’m gonna get Loki,” Sam said before he started to get up. 

“Sorry, Sammy, that’s not gonna happen. I told you, I don’t want you or Loki near your bastard father,” Gabriel said firmly.

“I told Dean to get rid of him before I got back,” Sam said. He was really hoping his brother heeded his instructions. Gabriel was right that their son shouldn’t be around his father. 

“Well, he didn’t listen,” Gabriel said.

“You went back there. What happened?” Sam asked in an uneasy tone. He knew whatever happened couldn’t be good, especially if his father was there. 

“Nothing bad. I simply informed them of how things are going to be from now on. I told your father that he was not going to be a part of your life anymore and your brother that if he wanted to be a part of it, he’d have to make a choice,” Gabriel informed him. He had no intention of hiding what happened. He knew Sam might not be thrilled by it, but he wanted Sam to know that he was going to put him and Loki first. 

“What?” Sam asked in disbelief and a little bit of anger. 

“Are you really that surprised, Sammy. There may be a lot of things you didn’t know about me before, but one thing you do now is that I’m very protective. You’ve told me a lot about your father. I’m not going to allow that to happen again. 

“You can’t give my brother an ultimatum!” Sam said in a loud tone as he stood up. He wasn’t really upset about his father. He’d already made the decision that he wasn’t going to be in his life anymore. He couldn’t trust him around Loki. But Dean was different. Other than Gabriel and Loki, Dean was the most important person to him.

“It was necessary, Sam. Your brother needs to decide where his loyalties lie. I will not put up with him turning his back on you because of your father and you shouldn’t either,” Gabriel said firmly.

“He won’t choose me!” Sam exclaimed. He wished he could believe his brother would put him first, but he knew better. He knew his brother loved him, but he always took their father’s side over his. The fact that he didn’t do as he asked in regards to their father today was proof. If Dean was asked to choose, he would choose their father.

Gabriel leaned forward. “If he doesn’t, then he doesn’t deserve to have you in his life, but give him a chance.”

“Daddy!” Loki suddenly called out.

Sam immediately left the room to see to his son.


	16. Chapter 16

Later that night, Sam watched as Gabriel played with their son on the floor a few feet away. They were playing with some blocks. Sam could just smile at them. He always wanted this, for Loki to have a relationship with Gabriel. Even if there was no future for Sam with Gabriel, he still wanted Loki to have a relationship with him. It looked like that much at least would happen.

“You think it’s tall enough?” Gabriel asked Loki, referring to the tower of blocks in between them.

“No, bigger,” Loki said.

“Bigger? I don’t know. It might fall. Are you sure?” Gabriel asked.

“Bigger,” Loki insisted.

“Okay, go ahead,” Gabriel said.

Loki reached with another block and put it on top of the others. He started giggling as it fell over.

“Oops. I guess it was a little too big,” Gabriel said.

“Again!” Loki demanded.

“How about we play later. I think it’s time for me to get dinner started. You’re hungry, aren’t you?” Gabriel asked.

Loki seemed to think about it for a minute. “Yeah.”

“Well, I better get started then,” Gabriel said before standing up.

Loki got up as well and went over to Sam. “Daddy, we live with Gabe now?”

Sam was unprepared for the question and had no idea how to answer it. He didn’t know what was going to happen with him and Gabriel, let alone how to explain it to Loki. Hell, he wasn’t even sure how to explain who Gabriel was to Loki. He was going to have to soon though. He knew that

Gabriel, seeing that Sam was struggling, went over to them and knelt down, gently turning Loki to face him. “How about we call it a long visit for now? Is that okay? You like it here, right?”

Loki smiled and nodded enthusiastically. “I wanna live here. It’s big. It’s bigger even than My old house with Mommy and Daddy.”

Sam stiffened and looked at Gabriel uncomfortably, unsure how the other man would handle learning that he’d allowed someone else to parent their son.

Gabriel’s face remained even and he stood up. “Good. I’m gonna make dinner. How does spaghetti sound to you?”

“Yay!” Loki said as he jumped up and down a couple of times.

Sam waited for Gabriel to leave the room before standing up himself. He grabbed the remote to turn the TV on and put on cartoons for Loki. “Loki, Daddy’s gonna go help Gabe in the kitchen. You sit here and watch cartoons, okay?”

“’Kay,” Loki said before climbing up on the couch.

Sam immediately headed into the kitchen, where he found Gabriel boiling some water on the stove. “Look, Gabriel, I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Gabriel asked

“What Loki just said about his mom. You didn’t say anything, but I know it has to bug you,” Sam said.

“You don’t have to do this, Sam,” Gabriel said. Sam was right, it did bug him, but it wasn’t because of Sam. He was mad at himself.

“No, listen. There was this girl that I befriended while I was at school. We became good friends, but that’s all we were. Neither one of us was interested in the other. When I left Campus, she came to see me. She was worried about me. Obviously, I had no choice but to explain what had happened. I figured she’d run away screaming, but she didn’t,” Sam said with a sad smile. He still missed Jess and felt really bad about what happened. He should’ve done more for her.

“She helped you,” Gabriel said as he began adding noodles to the boiling water.

“Yeah, she helped a lot. I’m honestly not sure I could’ve done it without Jess. She came up with the idea to pretend that we were together so everyone would think Loki was hers. She even took a year off too to make it more believable. And she helped me take care of him,” Sam explained.

“If she loved him and she took care of him, then she was his mother,” Gabriel said firmly.

“Yeah, but I let her take your place. That has to piss you off,” Sam said.

“She didn’t take my place. I have no intention of having him call me ‘Mommy’,” Gabriel joked. “Look, yeah, it bothers me, but not because you let someone else it. It bothers me because you had to. I should’ve been there to help take care of him. You should’ve been able to count on me. The fact that you had to turn to someone else is my fault, not yours.”

“Thanks. Um, onto the subject of what Loki will call you, I know I have to tell him soon. I’m just not sure how to do it yet,” Sam said.

“You don’t have to explain yourself in that regard either. It’s been a day. I’ve hardly earned any position in that child’s life, aside from maybe a friend,” Gabriel said.

“What are you talking about? You don’t have to earn any position in Loki’s life. You’re his father. You’re entitled to that position,” Sam said.

“No, I’m not. I haven’t been a part of his life for the nearly three years he’s been alive. I don’t really have any rights until you say I do. Well, except to make sure that you’re both safe. That may not technically be my right either, but I’m still taking it,” Gabriel said with a grin.

Sam laughed. “Yeah, you certainly proved that. I still don’t like you giving my brother an ultimatum, but I do appreciate where it comes from. As for Loki, if I decide when you have rights to him, I decide now. You’re good with him. I know you already love him.” He may be unsure of Gabriel’s true feelings for him, but he could tell that he loved Loki. That was enough to make him deserving of being his father. Sam would not keep them apart.”

“I do,” Gabriel said seriously. He’d only known him for less than twenty-four hours, but he already loved that child more than anything. He’d do anything for him. 

“So we’re going to find a way to tell him who you are. I think maybe we should just give it a day or two. That way he can get used to you more and we can figure out what to say. Uh, any idea what you want him to call you?” Sam asked.

“Anything but Father. Way too formal and makes me think of my own father,” Gabriel said. He loved his father, but he could be an asshole, quite often actually. Not to mention that he took off on them all centuries ago. 

“Okay, that’s just too weird for me to contemplate,” Sam said. Gabriel’s father was God. It was weird to hear him talk about him like that.

Gabriel laughed. “Everyone’s got issues with their parents, Sam.”

“So how about ‘Papa’. Would you be good with him calling you that?” Sam asked.

Gabriel thought about it for a minute. “I like that. It sounds right.”

“Great. We’ll tell him soon. In the meantime, can I help you here?” Sam asked.

“Sure. You can start by getting the sauce out. It’s in the last cabinet over there,” Gabriel said as he pointed to the other side of him.

“Sure,” He said before going to do as he was asked.


	17. Chapter 17

Dean made it back to the motel by around nine that night. After the library, he stopped at the bar for a couple of drinks. He didn’t get drunk, though only because he needed his head clear right now. He really just went to pass the time. He hadn’t been ready to go back to his dad. He knew it was gonna end in a fight and he wanted to avoid it just a little longer.

John was laying on the bed with Sam’s computer on his lap when Dean came in. “Where the hell have you been? Bobby said you went to the library, but I know that closed hours ago.”

Dean narrowed his eyes slightly, not thrilled that his father was questioning him like he was a teenager late for curfew. “Yeah, well, I had a couple of other stops to make. Why do you have Sam’s computer?”

“I was trying to do research myself, but your brother password protected the damn thing,” John grumbled before shutting the laptop and putting it aside.  
.   
“Where’s Bobby?” Dean asked.

John huffed at the mention of the other hunter. “Back at his room, probably. He can go home as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well, I see the two of you are getting along great,” Dean said sarcastically before taking his coat off and throwing it on his bed.

“I don’t know why you brought him here. He’s no help. He thinks we should just give up. He wants me to leave so you don’t have to choose,” John sneered in a mocking and condescending tone. 

Dean barely stopped himself from flinching at his father’s words. He’d had Bobby’s and the Trickster’s words in his head all day. He couldn’t choose between his father and his brother. He just didn’t know how. He loved them both, even despite his father’s asshole attitude towards Loki. He could not choose. 

“You know, I never thought I’d see the day when Bobby would give into a creature,” John said before gingerly getting to his feet. He was still in a pretty fair amount of pain.

As if on cue, Bobby walked in the room at that moment. “Saw your car in the lot.”

“There’s no need for you to be here, Bobby,” John said with a glare. 

Bobby ignored him and looked at Dean. “You find out anything?” He wasn’t sure he supported going after the Trickster because of how Sam felt about him, but they should still have the option, so he wanted to know what Dean found.

“Yeah, but not what I was hoping. I was trying to find a victim of his so we could get the blood for the stakes, but I struck out. I guess it’s either been a while or his last trick was subtle enough to look human,” Dean said.

“He’s got the whole world to choose from too,” Bobby pointed out

“Yeah. Anyway, after that dead end, I started looking into Tricksters again, hoping to find some other way. Then I looked into the Trickster, Loki, personally. He’s not what we thought it was,” Dean said.

“Are you saying he’s not a trickster?” John asked.

“No, he’s a trickster, but he’s not like the others. He’s not a demigod,” Dean said.

“What the hell is he then?” Bobby asked.

“A pagan god. He’s much more powerful than a regular trickster. The stake won’t do anything to him,” Dean told them. He’d been really unhappy when he read that. They didn’t have any way to stop the Trickster now. Well, not one that he’d found yet. That was all he’d learned before the library closed.

Bobby sighed. “I knew he seemed too confident. He knows we’ll have a hard time killing him.”

“There’s gotta be a way to kill him. We find it and we take him out,” John said firmly

“Dean, are you sure this is how you want it to go? I agree that we need to find a way to stop the trickster if we need to, but are you sure you wanna go after him like this?” Bobby asked.

“We’re stopping him, Bobby,” John said firmly.

Bobby glared at him. “I wasn’t talking to you. There’s no helping you. You will destroy your relationship with your son over this and there’s no stopping it. That’s if it hasn’t already been done by you condemning your own grandson. Dean still has a chance to save his relationship with his brother.”

“Don’t be dramatic. I will get Sam to see how stupid he’s been when this is over,” John said.

“Okay, would you just cut it out?” Dean asked irritably.

Bobby turned to Dean. “Dean, you have to think hard about this. You kill someone your brother loves, you won’t be able to come back from it. I know you don’t want to choose, but if you do this, you may as well have.”

“Look, I’m done with this tonight. I’m going to bed. We can deal with it all tomorrow,” Dean said. Of course, despite his words, he knew he wouldn’t sleep a wink. His mind would be on his brother and what to do about this mess.

“Alright. But you need to know that I’ll only help you kill the Trickster if it becomes necessary,” Bobby said. He’d just come to that decision. He decided he wasn’t going to hurt Sam like that. He wasn’t going to look at Sam and say he killed the guy he loved simply because he wasn’t human.

Dean nodded and watched as Bobby left. Then he went towards the bathroom without a single word to his father. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Gabriel walked into the living room and found Sam looking lost in thought. “Hey, Sammy, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Sam lied. He was actually stressing a little over Dean. He was scared about how Dean was going to respond to Gabriel’s ultimatum. He thought about calling him a few times throughout the day, but he always stopped himself, not ready for Dean to tell him he chose their father. 

“I just checked on Loki. He’s fast asleep,” Gabriel said before walking over and sitting down next to Sam.

Sam smiled a little. He loves it here. He hasn’t been in a house or an apartment since Jess died.”

“You know; I’m surprised you took him on the road. I know you hated that when you were a kid,” Gabriel said. There was no judgment in his voice. He knew that if Sam took their son on the road with his brother, it was because he thought it was the best thing to do.

At that moment, it occurred to Sam that he hadn’t told Gabriel the circumstances around Jess’ death. He should probably do that. “Jess’ death changed things. She was killed by the demon who killed my mom a few months ago. I had just come home after helping Dean. She was on the ceiling bleeding. The fire started a second later. If…If I had come home just a few minutes later, Loki would be dead too.”

Gabriel immediately started rubbing his lover’s shoulders. “Do not think like that. Loki is okay.”

“I dreamed about it, you know. I had dreams days before Jess’ death. I saw it before it happened,” Sam said guiltily.

“Stop! You had no reason to believe those dreams were true. You knew your mother had been killed in a similar manner. You probably thought it was just fear of losing someone else in a similar manner. I’m not going to let you blame yourself. What I said about your mother’s murder is the same here. It was demons who did it, not you,’ Gabriel said firmly.

Sam still felt very responsible, but he decided to drop it for now. “Well, Jess’ death is why I went on the road with Dean. I didn’t want to, but Dean pointed out that the demon might come after Loki next.”

That annoyed Gabriel slightly. Oh, he was sure Dean did believe what he told Sam to some extent, but he also believed that the older Winchester had used it to manipulate Sam into going with him. 

“I hated doing it, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. I had to make sure Loki was safe,” Sam said.

“He will be safe. I promise you, you never have to worry about that demon again.”

“You can really stop him?” Sam asked. He knew Gabriel was an angel, but it just seemed impossible that the demon could be killed so easily. His family had spent their entire lives trying.

Gabriel laughed. “As easily as you can step on an ant. Demons are no match for us.”

Sam nodded. “So then my family is the only thing I have left to worry about. I’m gonna have to go back Gabriel. You’re gonna have to send me back to the motel.”

“No way. I’m not letting the two of you anywhere near that bastard,” Gabriel told him. If Sam didn’t want to stay with him, that was one thing. He’d hate it and he’d do everything in his power to win him back, but he’d let him go. He would not, however, send him bend him back to his bastard father.

“Not Loki, just me. Loki will stay here with you,” Sam said. He agreed with Gabriel that their son would not go anywhere near his father. At best, his dad would traumatize Loki and at best he’d try to hurt him. Sam wouldn’t allow either of those things.

“You say that like that makes it better. It doesn’t. I’m not letting you anywhere near him either, especially without me there,” Gabriel said.

“My father won’t do anything to me,” Sam said.

“He’s done more than enough to you already,” Gabriel pointed out.

“Gabriel, I have to talk to him one more time. I need to make sure he knows where I stand. I have to figure things out with Dean too,” Sam said.

Gabriel could understand that, but he still didn’t like it. “Okay, fine, but you’re not going alone. I’m going with you.”

“We can’t have Loki there. Someone has to stay here with him. Well, actually, if Bobby’s there, we can leave him with him, but my dad would still see him,” Sam said.

“I can make sure nothing happens for those few minutes,” Gabriel said. He wasn’t wild about the idea, but the only other option was creating a clone to leave with the boy and that was too unpredictable. Clones didn’t have emotions or minds of their own. They did what they were told. If something went out of the clones control, and it often did with kids, it wouldn’t know what to do. “You trust the old man.”

“Yeah. Bobby’s never been the type to condemn something just for not being human. He only goes after things that kill. He wouldn’t hurt Loki,” Sam said confidently.

“Okay. We’ll go in the morning.”

“Alright. Well, I’m gonna go to bed. It’s getting late,” Sam said before standing up and heading out of the room.


	18. Chapter 18

Dean rubbed his eyes as he walked out of the bathroom after his shower. As predicted, he didn’t get much sleep the night before. All he could think about was his brother and how the future of their family was in serious trouble. He wanted to fix it. He wanted to make the Trickster go away and find some way of salvaging the relationship between his father and brother. He knew that if he didn’t, Bobby was right, he was going to lose one of them.

When Dean made it to the main room, he found his father sitting on Sam’s bed going through his bags. He immediately darted over and ripped the bag from his father’s hands. “What the hell are you doing?!”

John glared at his son. “I’m looking for something to explain you and your brother’s stupidity.”

Dean recognized the bag as Loki’s toy bag. He immediately put it back in the corner where Sam had it. “You think you’re going to find something sinister in Loki’s toys. Actually, yeah, I can see how a bunch of toy cars and trucks could be evil,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Knock it off, Dean! I don’t understand why you can’t see this situation for what it is. The kid is not human!”

“So what? He’s not a spirit or a werewolf! He’s not going around killing people!” Dean exclaimed.

“He will,” John said confidently. 

“How do you know? You don’t know anything about what he is. Nobody does. I don’t even think the Trickster knows,” Dean said.

“I know he’s not human. That’s enough,’ John growled.

“Because if it’s not human, it’s evil in your eyes,” Dean said with disdain. The worst part was that there was a time when Dean believed the same. He was wary of anything that wasn’t human. Loki changed that. That little boy was so sweet. There was nothing evil in his little body. So some, maybe even most, supernatural creatures might be evil, but not all. He wasn’t like the Trickster. He was innocent.

“Yeah, that’s right. You should know that too. That is what I’ve been teaching you boys all your life. Now suddenly you’ve forgotten that. Why?” John asked. 

“Maybe because the person you’re targeting now is my brother’s son!” Dean yelled

John was about to respond, but no words came out. He physically couldn’t speak or make any noise at all. 

Dean noticed his father struggle to speak. He knew something was seriously wrong with him. “Dad?”

Suddenly there was a voice from behind John. “I like your father much better like this, Sammy.”

Dean and John both turned to see the Trickster standing in front of Sam, who was holding Loki.

John immediately moved to go towards them, but he found he couldn’t move forward. It seemed like there was some invisible forcefield keeping him from taking a single step forward. He could move backwards and to the side, but he couldn’t move towards the three newcomers.

“Problems, Johnny,” Gabriel asked with a smirk.

John sent him a scathing glare. It seemed to be the only thing he could do right now.

Loki cuddled into his daddy’s arms, slightly afraid by the presence of the mean man he’d seen before.

Gabriel turned and rubbed his son’s back. “It’s okay, buddy. Remember, I told you the grumpy old man wouldn’t be able to touch you? See? He can’t even talk.”

Dean smiled at his nephew. “Hey, pal. I missed you.”

Loki smiled back. “Hi, Unca Dee.”

Hey, Dean. Uh, I heard Bobby was with you. Is he still around?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. I’ll call him,” Dean said before going and grabbing his phone off the nightstand by his bed. 

Meanwhile, Gabriel turned to Sam. “You alright, Sammy?” 

“Yeah,” Sam lied. He was far from okay. He knew by the time this was over, he was going to lose his family, and unlike when he went away to school, he knew this time there would be no going back.

“You’re a bad liar, Sammy,” Gabriel said as he squeezed Sam’s shoulders reassuringly.

John gave a disgusted look at the way Sam just let this supernatural thing touch him. His son should be repulsed to even be near it, yet he seemed to relish the touch. 

“Bobby will be here in a minute,” Dean said as he walked back over. “Everything okay, Sam.”

“Yeah, we’ve been fine,” Sam said.

Dean didn’t look too convinced and gave the Trickster a glare. He didn’t say anything though. He didn’t want to start anything with Loki in the room. He saw no reason to scare his nephew.

Just then, Bobby walked in and greeted Sam. “Sam. How you doing?”

“I’m good. It’s good to see you again, Bobby,” Sam said with a smile.

“You too,” Bobby said as he clapped him on the shoulder.

“Bobby, this is my son, Loki. Loki, this is Uncle Bobby. Can you say hi?” Sam asked.

“Hi,” Loki said quietly before leaning back into his father’s arms. The man looked a little scary.

Bobby gave the boy an inviting smile. “Hey, little man. It’s nice to meet you. You look just like your daddy did at your age.”

“Uh, Bobby, I was hoping you could do me a favor.”

“You want the kid out of the room,” Bobby guessed. It seemed like it was confrontation time and Sam wouldn’t want his kid there for that. And while Bobby would’ve wanted to stay, he got that the best thing he could do right now was to help Sam with the boy.

Sam nodded. “Please.”

“Hang on,” Dean said before going and grabbing Loki’s toy bag from the corner and bringing it over to Bobby. Whatever kept his dad from boing near them didn’t seem to affect Dean. “These are his toys.”

Bobby took it and swung the duffle over his shoulder before turning back to Sam and Loki. “How about it, kid? Winna show me how to use all these great toys of yours.

Loki nodded after a minute, decided the man was snice enough.

“Thanks, Bobby,” he said before handing his son over to his surrogate father.

“There better not be a hair missing from his head,” Gabriel warned. Sam trusted this guy and he was going to trust Sam, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to ascertain that his child was safe.

Sam rolled his eyes at the archangel and turned to his little boy. “Everything’s gonna be okay. You be a good boy for Uncle Bobby.”

“Okay. Bye Daddy, by Gabe,” Loki said.

Bobby frowned. “I thought his name was Loki.”

“No, I Loki,” the toddler said matter-of-factly, causing everyone except for John to laugh.

“I go by a couple of things,” Gabriel said unconcerned. The name, Gabriel, was common. There was no reason to believe that anyone would connect it to the archangel, Gabriel, and it was better for Loki that he not be called something else by different people. He didn’t want to confuse him. “Go ahead and go with Gabriel.

“Alright, I guess we’ll get out of here. Good luck, Sam,” Bobby said before heading out the door with Loki. 

Dean leveled Gabriel with a glare. “Give my dad back his voice.”

“Why? It’s much more peaceful without him talking, isn’t it?” Gabriel asked.

“Gabriel,” Sam said.

“Fine, but I won’t be held responsible for my actions if he says something stupid,” Gabriel said before snapping his fingers.

“Take the mojo you have up down!” John growled as he once again tried to move towards his son and the Trickster. 

“Oh, that one’s not gonna happen. Sorry,” Gabriel said, sounding not even a little bit apologetic. 

“Get over here, Sam,” John ordered. If he couldn’t physically get his son away from the Trickster, eh would make him come to him.

“Screw you,” Sam said with a glare.

“What did you just say to me?” John asked with a growl. 

“I said, screw you,” Sam repeated in a cold tone. “I am not a child anymore. You don’t tell me what to do!”

“How stupid can you be, Sam. That thing is not human!” John yelled while pointing at the Trickster. 

“Alright, stop,” Dean tried.

“I don’t care! He’s still done more for me than you have!” Sam yelled at his father.

“He’s screwing with your head! He’s probably done something to mojo you. Him or the spawn he created with you!” John sneered.

Sam immediately lunged at his father, but was held back by Gabriel. “Don’t you ever talk about my son like that!”

Gabriel held him tightly. He certainly understood the impulse to attack this piece of crap, but he didn’t wanna see Sam get hurt. John was more experienced than Sam. He could get hurt. “Easy, Sammy.”

Sam tried and failed to pull away from Gabriel, so he settled for glaring at his father. “My son is the most innocent, beautiful child in the entire world! There is nothing wrong with him!”

“You’re delusional, Sam,” John said.

“I thank God I never called you when I found out I was pregnant. I thought about it, but I knew you would hurt him,” Sam said.

“He’s never gonna hurt him, Sammy. I promise,” Gabriel said.

“No, he won’t. If you come anywhere near my son, I will kill you!” Sam vowed to his father.

“How dare you say something like that to me?! I’m your father!” John growled.

“No, you’re not. I don’t have a father anymore. Hell, if we’re being honest, I haven’t had one since I was six-months-old,” Sam said. In his mind, he lost his father the night his mother died. The closest thing he had was Dean and sometimes Bobby.

“Sam,” Dean started, emotions filling his voice.

“I’m sorry, Dean. I have to protect my son. I love you, but I don’t think we should see each other anymore either,” Sam said. He hated this. He’d wanted to find a way for this not to happen because he couldn’t bear to lose Dean, but deep down, he knew for a while it was going to come down to it, even as he got angry at Gabriel for trying to make Dean choose, he knew it would happen. He just tried to deny it.

“Sam, don’t do this. Don’t let him make you do this?” Dean asked.

“Gabriel’s not making me do anything, Dean,” Sam protested.

“Did he tell you he came here and tried to make me choose between you and Dad?” Dean asked.

“Yes, he did. I wasn’t happy, but I understand why he did it. He did it so I wouldn’t have to. He knew I couldn’t have it all because Dad will never accept Loki, and I can’t have him around him if that’s the case. I have to have a clean break from him, which means I can’t really be around you either. You love Dad. I get that and I won’t ask you to choose. I’ll make the choice,” Sam said. There were two reasons he was going to be the one to walk away. One was that it wasn’t fair to make Dean choose. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t deserve to be put in the middle. The other reason was that he was sure his brother would choose their father if he was forced to make a choice and Sam just couldn’t bear that.

“Fine, go! If you’re going to choose to be with this creature, I don’t want you around anyway!” John said coldly.

Dean felt like the walls were closing in on him. Bobby had told him this would happen, and despite Dean’s insistence that getting rid of the Trickster would fix everything, he knew Bobby was right. He knew this wasn’t something that could be fixed. He had to choose once and for all.

In the past, Dean always sided with their father when it came to fights. He did that because he knew that even if he chose their dad, he’d still have Sam. Sam would stand by him no matter what. He wasn’t so sure about his dad. So he knew that by choosing his father, he wasn’t really choosing because he wasn’t going to lose anything.

Dean slowly walked over and put his hands on his brother’s shoulders. “I love you, Sammy.”

“I love you too. I’m sorry,” Sam said as his voice began to crack. 

“Don’t be. I understand why you’re doing this. You have to look out for your son. I understand. This isn’t on you. Don’t feel bad about it,” Dean said before pulling his brother into his arms. He held him tightly for a few moments and then pulled away. He turned back to his father, with his hands still resting on his brother’s shoulders. “You gotta leave.”

“What?” John asked in disbelief.

“Dean,” Sam said with just as much shock in his voice.

Dean let go of his brother and walked back over to his father. “Sam’s right about you not really being a father since Mom died. He doesn’t even realize how much he’s right, but I do. You were much different before the fire. You were always around for me and then Sam, but that changed when Mom died. The only thing you were around after that was to train us or to yell at us. Sam and I only had each other growing up. So if I have to choose, I choose him.

Sam let out a sob. He couldn’t believe it. His brother wasn’t going to turn on him for their father. He was actually choosing him, even after Sam tried make it so he wouldn’t have to choose.

Gabriel rubbed the back of Sam’s neck comfortingly.

“You can’t be serious! You’re going to just walk away from me! I’m your father, Dean! I’ve always been there for you!” John yelled.

“No, you haven’t. That’s the point I just made,” Dean said.

“So you’re going to berate me for trying to find your mother’s killer? Not only that, you’re gonna choose your brother and this supernatural filth over your own father! Your mother would be ashamed if she was here!” John screamed.

Dean’s features hardened. Now he was pissed. How dare his father try to use his mother against him like that? His mother would be appalled by how his father was acting towards Sam and Loki. He was sure she’d be the first to try to knock some sense into him. “Get the hell out.”

“You heard him. Leave before I help you with the task,” Gabriel growled. He snapped his fingers and removed the power that was keeping John away from them, as the door was right behind them. He did, however, pull Sam behind him just in case.

John huffed angrily and quickly grabbed his coat and bag and headed for the door. He stopped and glared at the Trickster. “This isn’t over.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes and opened the door for the hunter. “Couldn’t you think of a less cliché line?”

John walked out without another word.

Gabriel stood in the doorway. “Oh, before you go, I guess I’ll give you a parting gift. The demon who killed your wife is dead,” he said before slamming the door shut.

“The thing that killed our mom is dead?” Dean asked shocked. They’d been trying to find and kill that thing their whole lives. Now all of a sudden it was just dead?

“He did it last night while I was asleep. Listen, Gabriel, will you give me some time with my brother? I think we need to talk,” Sam said.

“Sure. I’ll go see what Loki and Singer are up to,” Gabriel said before walking out of the room, leaving the two brothers by themselves.


	19. Chapter 19

Dean headed to the fridge seconds after the Trickster left him alone with his brother. “I need a beer. You want one?”

“I’m good. It’s not even noon yet,” Sam commented.

“Yeah, well, I just kicked our father out of my life. I’m getting a beer,” Dean said as he pulled a beer from the fridge.

Sam began to feel guilty at his brother’s words. He hated that his brother was suffering because of him. Dean didn’t deserve this. “Dean, I’m so…”

“Don’t!” Dean said sharply as he made his way back over. I told you when I made the choice that it wasn’t your fault! This was my choice and I don’t regret it.” He didn’t. It hurt and it probably would even more later, but he had no doubt that he made the right choice. He loved his father and he always would, but Sam deserved his loyalty much more than their old man.

“Not really. You made your choice because of me. I tried not to make you choose, but I still made it was him or me,” Sam said before taking a seat at the table opposite the two beds.

Dean sat as well. “You thought I’d choose him, didn’t you? That’s why you tried to walk away before I could choose myself.”

“That’s part of it. Like I said, I didn’t want you to have to make that choice either, but I guess it was unavoidable. But, yeah, the other part was that I was afraid of what you would choose. You’ve always taken Dad’s side in the past,” Sam said. He did his best to keep the pain out of his voice, but he knew he failed. He couldn’t help it. It hurt every time Dean chose their father over him.

Dean did hear the pain in Sam’s voice and he felt bad. He never meant to hurt him, but he knew now that by taking their father’s side all the time, he’d damaged Sam. Dean always knew it hurt him and he hated that, but he never thought it was so bad that Sam would think he loved their father more than him. “I shouldn’t have done that. I did because I knew I didn’t have to worry about you holding it against me. Dad could hold a grudge.”

“Are you saying you were on my side when we fought?” Sam asked surprised.

“Well, not all the time. There were times when I thought you were wrong, but there were times when he was wrong. I should’ve said that. I’m sorry,” Dean said.

“You were afraid of being an outsider, like me,” Sam said. He could understand that. He knew how badly it hurt to know your own father considered you a disappointment. He understood why Dean wanted to avoid that for himself.

“You weren’t an outsider!” Dean said firmly.

“I was with him. I wasn’t the son he wanted,” Sam said sadly. He’d accepted that he’d never be good enough years ago, but that didn’t seem to make it easier. If anything, it made it hurt worse.

“I contributed to that. I’m sorry, Sammy,” Dean said.

“It’s okay. I get why you did it,” Sam said.

“You shouldn’t. You should be pissed at me for screwing you over like that. It is not okay. It is so wrong that something I did led you to believe that I’d turn my back on you. It’s even worse that Dad did turn his back on you. I’m sorry for that too. I really believed you were wrong about the way he’d react to Loki. I know he can be an ass, but I didn’t think he’d reject his own blood,” Dean said. He had been shocked when his father first started speaking so horribly about Loki. He honestly believed Sam was overreacting by thinking their father would hurt the toddler. Loki was his grandson. Dean thought that would mean something. 

“I knew it would happen. Dad barely accepted me for who I was. I knew he’d ever accept my son. That’s why I had to do it, Dean. I can’t have him in my life. Even if I could ensure he’d never hurt Loki, Loki would know that his grandfather would never accept him. If I kept him around, I’d have to explain that to my son one day. I’d have to tell him that I kept a man in my life that hated him,” Sam said. He hated that his choice forced his brother to make his own, but he did not regret his decision. He had to think about his son first and foremost.

“I understand. Hell, I think a part of me always knew it would happen one day.”

“I...I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about cutting him out. I mean, I know he hasn’t been in my life since I left for school, but that was kind of different than basically telling him he’s not my father anymore. I’m not sure how to feel right now,” Sam said. A part of him felt like he should feel relieved, but he didn’t. He didn’t feel upset or angry either. He didn’t know what he felt.

“Yeah, me either. I think we don’t really feel anything and don’t know how to feel because it hasn’t really sunk in. He’s gone, but he was gone before. I think it’s gonna take a while for it to hit us,” Dean said.

Sam nodded. “You probably wanna talk about Gabriel now.”

“Not really because I get the feeling we’re not gonna see eye to eye,” Dean said before taking a sip of his beer. “But not really seeing the choice. He tell you what he is?”

“Yes,” Sam answered, not elaborating. He’d promised Gabriel he wouldn’t reveal his identity. Dean had no need to know Gabriel was an archangel. He probably wouldn’t believe him anyway. He would tell him what he needed to know, but he wouldn’t give away Gabriel’s secret.

“At first, we thought he was a demigod. A trickster. But I did research. Loki is a Pagan God. he’s probably killed hundreds or thousands of people over the years,” Dean said. He expected his brother would try to deny this, but he would find a way to make Sam see the truth.

“I know he’s killed before, Dean, but he does it for the same reason we do. He’s trying to save people from the terrible things in the words. He just goes after human evil,” Sam explained. 

Dean scoffed. “Come on, Sam, you bought that?”

“It’s the truth,” Sam insisted. 

“How do you know? It wouldn’t be the first time the asshole lied to you,” Dean said.

“How do I know? Because Gabriel would’ve killed Dad the second he said one word against our son if he was a cold blooded killer. Also, I know him. Maybe I didn’t know a lot of things about him and what he was, but I knew his character. I refuse to believe that was all a lie,” Sam said firmly.

“Alright, let’s say you’re right for a minute. What difference does it make. He still kills people. It doesn’t matter what they did. They were still people. Things that kill people need to die,” Dean said.

Sam started to get angry at the insinuation that Gabriel should be killed just like the things they hunted. It didn’t even matter that Dean didn’t have the power to kill Gabriel. The judgemental way Dean insisted Gabriel was evil pissed him off. “Oh, and you think you get to decide that? How is that any different than what Gabriel does? How is hunting any different than what he does?”

Dean looked at his brother in disbelief. He didn’t know how his brother could even ask that. Of course it was different. They killed creatures that hurt people, not humans. “How is it different? We go after demons, spirits, werewolves, and everything else like them, things that shouldn’t exist!”

“So as long as it’s not human it’s fair game? That’s what you’re saying? Is that what you’re gonna say if some hunter one day discovers Loki and comes after him,” Sam asked. He shuttered at ever the idea, especially considering it was a very possible one, but he wanted his brother to understand what he was saying. 

“Of course not! That’s different. Loki hasn’t hurt anyone and we’ll make sure he doesn’t. Your boyfriend is killing people when he doesn’t have to. He’s playing God!” Dean yelled.

Sam could almost laugh at the words his brother used. Playing God. Well, Gabriel was God’s son. If anyone had the right to play God, it was him. “What’s your definition of a person, Dean? Is someone who kills kids a person? Because that’s what the last animal Gabriel killed did? Is that really a human being worthy of living? Would you not hunt down and murder someone who came after your nephew? Like the hunter scenario I just mentioned? Because I’ll tell you right now, I would. If anyone ever tried to hurt my son, I’d kill them without mercy.”

Dean didn’t really have an answer for that. Just the thought of someone hurting Loki, or any child for that matter, made him sick. And like Sam, he would kill if it meant protecting someone he loved. He couldn’t even say he wouldn’t do it if he ran across a bastard like that hurting a child he didn’t know. So, yeah, he could tell he wasn’t going to win this argument. He was going to have to make another approach to get Sam to let the Trickster go. “He left you alone when you were pregnant with Loki. He lied to you about everything from the moment you met him.”

“That has nothing to do with you,” Sam said in a respectful but firm tone. He wasn’t going to justify any of that to Dean. He wasn’t even going to discuss it with him. That was something he’d work out with Gabriel. Dean had no place in it.

“Of course it does! You’re my brother! I’m not gonna let his asshole hurt you! Don’t go down this road, Sammy. At best, he’s gonna break your heart. At worst, he’ll ruin your life,” Dean warned. He was nowhere near sold on the idea that this guy wasn’t evil. Who knew what he really wanted with Sam, but he doubted it was love. The Trickster had something up his sleeve.

Sam sighed. “Dean, whether or not I’m with Gabriel or not, you’re going to have to get used to him being around. He’s Loki’s father and he’s gonna be a part of his life.”

Dean shook his head. “No, we can keep him away. He may be strong, but we can fight him.”

“I’m not going to do that. Loki deserves to have two parents. He deserves to know his other father. He already loves Gabriel. I won’t even try to take that from him,” Sam said firmly.

“Sammy…”

“No, Dean. Gabriel is going to be a part of my life one way or another for the rest of my life. You just gonna have to accept that,” Sam said.

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. He was not happy about this. He knew that if Sam accepted this guy back into his life, even just as Loki’s father, he was going to eventually accept him back all the way, because Sam loved Gabriel. That much had been clear to Dean even before meeting the Trickster. “So you’re gonna go on like nothing happened. You gonna go back to his place too? You gonna live with him?”

“Uh, at least until I can figure out where I’m going to live on a permanent basis,” Sam said. He knew his brother wasn’t going to be happy, but he was done hunting. The demon was dead. There was no more threat to Loki. There was no reason to subject his son to the way he grew up anymore. 

Dean let out a bitter laugh and took a sip of his beer. “So you’re done.”

“You knew I would be. I’m not going to raise my kid this way, Dean. I want him to have a home, to go to the same school for more than a few weeks at a time. I don’t want him going from motel to motel. I don’t want him to have to know how to fire a gun before his tenth birthday,” Sam said.

Dean nodded. Sam was right, he knew all this. This was one thing he couldn’t blame on the Trickster. Sam had always hated hunting, and he’d made it clear that once the demon was taken care of, he was out again. He hated it. He felt like he was going to lose his brother, but he understood where his brother was coming from.

“You don’t have to hunt anymore either. The demon’s dead. The unfinished business is done. You can move on with your life now,” Sam said.

Dean shook his head. “I’m not gonna stop, man. This is what I know. It’s what I’m going to do.”

“I can’t do it. But I just want you to know that it doesn’t mean I’m walking away from you. I don’t want in this life, but I do want in yours.”

Dean nodded, not sure if he actually believed him. 

“We should probably go find the others,” Sam said.

“Sure,” Dean replied. The two of them then stood up and headed for the door.


	20. Chapter 20

Bobby sat and watched warily as the Trickster play on the floor. If he didn't know better, he'd say he was watching a normal dad dote on his son. But Bobby did know better, so he was very alert as they interacted. Gabriel, as it seemed was the name he went by, was no normal, human parent. And, okay, Bobby didn't care that much about the non-human thing. He wasn't like John. He didn't believe that all things non-human should be put down. Hell, he already was fond of the innocent, yet non-human child sitting a few feet away. But Gabriel was one of the dangerous non-humans. Tricksters killed. Maybe they were a little picky about who they killed, but they still killed. So damn right, Bobby was gonna keep his eye on this SOB, especially while he was around Sam's son.

“Hey, buddy, look,” Gabriel suddenly said before flicking his wrist a little and making the toy cars they were playing with roll across the floor on their own.

Loki giggled. “I do that too!” he said before holding his hand out. One of the cars appeared in his hand. Then he turned and looked at Gabriel proudly.

“Good job, pal,” Gabriel said as he held his hand up.

Loki slapped his hand as hard as he could.

“That a good idea? What if he does that in public?” Bobby asked. He had no issue with it himself. Actually, he found it kind of cute in the toddler, but others wouldn't. At best, they'd want to turn him into a science experiment. At worst, he might attract the attention of hunters and that would be very bad. Most hunters were like John. 

Gabriel stood up and walked over to the table Bobby was seated at and took a seat across from him. “He won't be around other people all that often until he's school aged. By then, we'll have taught him not to use his powers in public. And if it does happen in the meantime, I can always wipe the memories of anyone who sees it. I won't have my kid afraid of his powers and I know Sam agrees.”

“We huh?” Bobby asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What?”

“You said 'we' will have taught him. You seem sure Sam's gonna take your ass back,” Bobby said.

Gabriel smirked. “I usually manage to get what I want and I want Sammy. I told you, he's mine.”

Bobby glared at the Trickster. “That kid is as much my son as John's! No, actually, he's more mine than John's. I'm not gonna let you treat him like your possession!”

“Oh, so that's how you take it when I say he's mine. You think I want to control his whole life like some common wife beater. It's not like that. If I wanted a robot to obey my every command and have sex with, I'd make one. It wouldn't take much effort. In fact I've done it before,” Gabriel said crudely.

Bobby gave him a disgusted look. 

“I happen to like Sam's personality. I like that he fights with everything in him when he thinks he's right. I wouldn't dream of changing that. What I mean when I say he's mine is that I'm going to take care of him when he can't or won't do it himself. It means I won't let anything hurt him. It also means that I'll never give up on getting him back,” Gabriel said. Normally he wouldn't even explain all of this, as he's never given a damn what anyone thinks, but Bobby genuinely cared about Sam and was looking out for him, and Gabriel knew that Bobby meant a lot to Sam. 

Bobby had to admit he wasn't expecting that answer and was kind of impressed by it. It seemed true. What reason would the Trickster have to lie? It wasn't like he was afraid of Bobby or anything. He had nothing to gain from telling such a lie. Then again, he was a trickster for a reason, so Bobby wasn't just going to trust him.

Just then, Loki got up and walked over to the two men. “Gabe, I'm hungry.”

“Okay. It sounds like a good time for a snack,” Gabriel said before picking the toddler up and placing him on his lap. Then he snapped his fingers and some cookies and a sippy cup with milk appeared on the table. Gabriel of course snagged one of the cookies before letting Loki have the rest. 

“Why'd you start up with Sam? You knew who he was,” Bobby said. He refused to believe even for a second that Gabriel took up with Sam not knowing he was both a hunter and a Winchester. 

“Yep,” Gabriel said, not even thinking of denying it.

“So what did you want from him?” Bobby asked. He believed at the very least that Sam mattered to him now. His actions with John and even his possessiveness proved that, but Bobby wanted to know about his original intentions because he didn't believe they were at all noble.

Gabriel smirked. “Thinks that shouldn't be said in front of impressionable minds. Believe it or not, there was no conspiracy. Sure, I found the humor in getting my hooks into a Winchester, but that was as far as it went.”

“Yeah, I'm sure. Whatever you were after, I hope you gave up on it because I'm not gonna let you hurt him,” Bobby said firmly. 

Just then, the door opened and Sam and Dean walked through.

“Hey. You two okay?” Bobby asked. He knew they wee dealing with a lot. Gabriel had told him when he came in that they'd both kicked John out of their lives. As horrible as the oldest Winchester had been, he was still their father and tossing them out couldn't be easy.

“Yeah, we're fine,” Dean said.

Sam, meanwhile looked towards Gabriel and his son. “Gabriel, why is he eating cookies this early?”

“Because I gave them to him,” Gabriel said in a slow and obvious tone.

Sam rolled his eyes. “He's going to be bouncing off the walls in less than an hour.”

Gabriel just shrugged unconcerned. 

Dean smiled at Loki. “Hey, buddy. You wanna come give me a hug?”

Loki jumped down from Gabriel's lap and ran to Dean.

Dean picked up up and held him close for a second. “Are you ready to go with your daddy and... Gabriel?”

“You come too,” Loki said.

“I'm sorry, Loki, but I can't come,” Dean said. 

“Why?” Loki asked.

“Because I have some work to do. Don't worry, I'll see you soon,” Dean promised.

Bobby and Gabriel both stood up. Gabriel went to pick up Loki's toys from the floor while Bobby went over to Sam. “This what you want?”

Sam nodded. “I was never planning to hunt for long. You know how much I hate it, and I don't want my son growing up that way either.”

“I understand. You don't have to stay with him though,” Bobby said as he glanced at Gabriel. He felt slightly better about the Trickster after talking to him, that didn't mean he liked or trusted him. He was something that killed people and was in all likelihood very manipulative. He didn't trust him with Sam. “You're both welcome to stay with me.”

“He's not a bad person, Bobby. I know why you don't trust him, but he's not what you think. We'll be okay,” Sam assured him.

“Alright, but if you change your mind, you call. I'm not afraid to take him on to help you,” Bobby said.

Sam nodded and then went over to Dean. “Hey. Look, I promise, I'm going to keep in touch. I'll call you tomorrow and we'll see each other soon,” he said before pulling both his brother and son into his arms. He knew he was hurting his brother and he hated that, but he just couldn't keep going this way. He wouldn't have his child living the same life he did. He wanted him to grow up in one place without worrying about himself or his family getting killed. 

Dean hugged his brother back for a second before pulling away. 

Gabriel soon came over with all of Loki's things. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Sam said before pulling Loki out of his brother's arms and into his own. 

Dean glowered over at Gabriel. “You hurt either of them and I'll kill you.”

Gabriel smiled in response. “I'd hope so.”

“Bye, guys,” Sam said before taking Gabriel's hand and letting him take them away


	21. Chapter 21

At around nine the next morning, Gabriel was getting breakfast together for Sam.  He and Loki had eaten a little while ago, but Gabriel had left Sam to sleep in.  The hunter hadn’t slept well the night before.  Formally cutting his father out of his life hadn’t been easy on him.

“Gabe?” Loki asked from right next to him.

“Yes, little one.”

“Why does Daddy have to eat in bed?” Loki asked.

“Well, he doesn’t have to.  Sometimes it’s just nice to bring people breakfast in bed.  Has your daddy ever brought food to you in bed?” Gabriel asked.

“No, but Mommy did it for Daddy once.  He was sick,” Loki said.

Gabriel felt a pang of jealousy.  He was the one that should’ve been pampering Sam when he was sick.  He should’ve been there for his lover and their son.  But it was his fault he wasn’t, so he couldn’t get angry at anyone but himself.  “It’s kind of like that.  Daddy’s not sick, but he’s been really sad the last few days.”

“Because of that bad man?” Loki asked.

“Yeah.  Okay, let’s go see Daddy.  You wanna help?” Gabriel asked.

Loki nodded his head wildly in excitement. 

“Okay, you carry the fork and napkin,” Gabriel said as he handed the boy the two items. 

Loki held them in his hands tightly.

Gabriel grabbed the tray of food and led the way out of the kitchen and down to Sam’s room.

Sam was just waking up when he saw Gabriel enter with their son right behind him.  “Hey.”

“Morning, Sammy!  We brought you food.”

“Gabe says you get to eat in bed, Daddy,” Loki said.

“I do?  Well that’s great.  Did you eat already?” Sam asked.

“Uh huh.  Gabe said we had to let you sleep more,” Loki said as he walked over and handed his daddy the fork and napkin. 

“Thanks, buddy,” Sam said as he sat up.

Gabriel set the tray on Sam’s lap.

“Wow, it looks great,” Sam said.  He had pancakes with fruit and whipped cream topped on them.  “Thanks, Gabriel.  You didn’t have to though.  You could’ve just woken me up.”

“Nope!  You needed more rest,” Gabriel said before picking his son up and putting him on the bed with Sam.  Then he sat down next to him. 

“This is great,” Sam said after taking his first bite.  He really shouldn’t be surprised.  Everything Gabriel made turning out awesome. 

“Daddy, do we live here now?” Loki asked.  He’d asked before and was told it was just a visit, but it didn’t seem like a visit anymore.  He didn’t want it to be a visit.  He liked it here. 

“Well, for a little while.  You and I will probably get our own place soon, but we’ll still come and visit Gabe,” Sam said. 

Gabriel didn’t say anything, but he intended to make it his life’s mission to make sure Sam’s scenario didn’t happen.  If he had it his way, neither of his boys were going anywhere. 

“Is Gabe like Unca Dee?” Loki asked.

Sam understood exactly what his son was asking.  He wanted to know it Gabriel was his uncle. 

“Hey, how about we go find some cartoons to watch in the living room,” Gabriel asked to distract the boy. 

“No, it’s okay, Gabriel,” Sam said.  It was time for him to tell his son who Gabriel was to Loki.  Both of them deserved that.  He just wasn’t sure how to tell a nearly three-year-old boy that he had another father.  How could Loki possibly understand this.

“Are you sure?  There’s no rush?” Gabriel told him.  He didn’t want Sam to feel pressured to do this now.  He was willing to wait until Sam was completely ready for Loki to know the truth. 

“I’m sure,” Sam told him before focusing on Loki.  “Hey, buddy.  No, Gabe isn’t your uncle, but he’s really important to us.  He’s your family.”

“How?” Loki asked. 

“Well, do you remember how you said that he’s like you?” Sam asked.

Loki nodded. 

“Well, you were right.  All those special things you can do, you get them from him,” Sam said.

Loki smiled and crawled into Gabriel’s lap.

Gabriel cuddled the boy close and kissed him on the top of the head. 

“Buddy, you have those special gifts because Gabe is your daddy too,” Sam said.

“He is?  But you’re my daddy.”

“Of course he is.  He always will be,” Gabriel said.  He didn’t want the kid thinking for even a second that this meant Sam wasn’t his daddy anymore.

“Sometimes kids can have more than one dad.  Some kids are special like that,” Sam said as he gave his son a big smile.

“So, I have more than one daddy?” Loki asked.  He didn’t really understand how that could happen, but he liked it.  He liked Gabe a lot.  It would be fun if he was his daddy too.

“That’s right,” Sam said.

“But I can’t call both of you ‘Daddy’,” Loki said.  He knew enough to know that that just wouldn’t work.  How would his daddies know which one he was talking to?

Gabriel chuckled.  “Yeah, that would be pretty weird, wouldn’t it?”

Loki nodded.

“We were thinking maybe you could call Gabe Papa.  It’s another way to say ‘Daddy’,” Gabriel said.

“Papa?” Loki asked, kind of testing the word out.

“Only if you want to.  You don’t have to call me anything you don’t want to, and you can take as long as you want to decide if you like calling me that,” Gabriel said.  He wasn’t so bad for his son to call him that, but he would not force it on him.  Loki might like him, but he barely knew him.  The kid might not be okay with it right now. 

“Papa,” Loki said.  This time he said it with more conviction, as if deciding that it was the right word.

“You okay with this, buddy?” Sam asked.

Loki nodded. 

“Do you understand what we’ve said?” Sam prodded.  He wanted to make sure his son wasn’t confused by all of this.

“Daddy, Papa,” Loki said as he pointed between the two men.  He said it as if it explained absolutely everything.

Gabriel smiled and held his son tightly.  He was so happy.  His little boy completely accepted him as his father.  Now all he had to do was work on Sam.  He had to get the man he loved to trust him again.  He would find a way.  He would turn the three of them into a real family no matter what it took. 

 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Electric Love](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11534463) by [Stormsong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormsong/pseuds/Stormsong)




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